Samurai Family Life
by sweetredranger
Summary: (Sequal to Adult Life Highway) How will Tracy and Antonio handle raising a child and starting a family together?
1. First Christmas

Antonio, Tracy (who is 28 weeks pregnant) and Luna walk up to the door of her parents' house in Michigan.

"Why did we come here again," Tracy asks.

"Remember, honey, you promised your mom that you would come home to celebrate the triplets first Christmas," Antonio answers.

"I know sweetie. Why can't we celebrate it in Mexico? Where is warm, sunny, and warm." Tracy says.

"I know you moved to California to get away from the cold. Remember that you're doing this for the triplets." Antonio says.

The front door opens a few seconds later. Ballade and Fiacre greet them.

"Hey, sweetie, who are you feeling?" Ballade asks.

"You mean other than pregnant and tired," Tracy answers.

Everyone chuckles. Fiacre invites them inside. They walk into the living room.

"Why isn't the star on the tree?" Tracy asks.

"We thought that Antonio could put it on the tree this year," Ballade answers.

"I would be honored," Antonio says.

They go over to the box filled with Christmas decorations. Tracy searches through it. She takes a 12" gold wire star out of the box. They walk over to the tree. She hands the star to Antonio. He places the star on the top branch. Antonio walks back over to the couch where Tracy is.

"Mom, I'm curious why did you want Antonio to put the star on the tree?" Tracy asks.

"Well sweetheart, this isn't only the triplets first Christmas after all it's your and Antonio's first Christmas too. We wanted him to feel like a member of the family." Ballade answers.

Antonio thanks them for giving him the honor of putting the topper on the tree. Fiacre says after dinner they will get to turn it on. Antonio says that he can wait.

"Don't we sing carols before we turn it on dad?" Tracy asks.

"You're right, angel, that's another family tradition we do Antonio. Everyone takes turns singing their favorite song." Fiacre says.

"Everyone in the family who can carry a tune that is," Tracy says.

"Tracy, be nice. Your brother has a nice voice." Ballade answers.

"You remember the karaoke contest don't you?" Chris asks.

"Yes, I do bro. You just sang that good to win points with Lauren." Tracy answers.

"Well, it worked," Lauren says.

Lauren walks over to Chris. She asks Tracy when the baby is due. Tracy says that their baby girl is due March 14th. A few seconds later Tracy yawns and Chris cracks a joke that Antonio could put one of his fish-hook in her mouth.

"Not funny bro and I can't help it I'm in the third trimester," Tracy says.

"How long are you going to milk this whole pregnancy thing?" Chris asks.

"I don't know bro maybe till the point where I'm not pregnant anymore," Tracy says sarcastically.

"All right son that's enough. Tracy, honey, why don't you take a short nap trust me you need your sleep." Fiacre says.

Tracy nods. She rolls on her left side and drifts off into dreamland. Everyone else heads to the kitchen. Lauren asks Antonio if they have picked out a name for their little girl. Antonio says yes. Their little girls' name is Anastasia Ella Garcia.

"That's a really pretty name. " Lauren says.

"Thanks, Lauren," Antonio says.

Samurai First's

They talk for a few minutes before Ballade asks her son if he can help her and his father with the triplets. She continues by saying that she was thinking about taking a walk around the neighborhood so the house would be quiet. Chris nods. They head to the triplets room and come back with Angela, Amelia, and Antonio James. They're dressed in their snow suits.

"Big Sissy's Antonio," Amelia says.

"Aw, that's so cute," Lauren says.

They leave the kitchen and head to the room where the baby things are. Antonio gets the stroller and places the triplets in it. Everyone except Antonio and Luna leaves using the back door. Back in the living room Tracy starts to have the same nightmare she had when Antonio and she were in Italy. Her eyes shoot open and her face is dripping with sweat. She carefully sits up and looks to her left to see Luna. The dog has her front paws on the couch and a worried expression on her face.

"Don't worry girl. I'm okay." Tracy says gently stroking the dog's head.

Tracy stops petting her. Then Luna puts her front paws back on the floor and takes a tissue out of the box on the coffee table. She gives it to her owner. Tracy uses it to dry off her face. Luna puts her front paws back on the couch. Tracy hands her the tissue and she leaves to go to the kitchen. Antonio hears Luna walking in and looks over at her. He sees her put the soaked tissue in her mouth in the trash can. Luna walks over to him.

"She had the dream again huh girl?" Antonio asks the dog.

Luna nods. Antonio gets up from the table and heads out to the living room after he gives her a bowl of water. He enters the room and sees his wife sitting up on the couch. She starts to get up and slowly walks over to him.

"Hey my golden knight, where are the others?" Tracy asks.

"They left to walk around the neighborhood so you could rest," Antonio answers.

"That was really nice of them," Tracy says.

Antonio agrees with his wife then he asks her if she had that dream again. Tracy nods. Her hormones take over and Tracy starts bawling. Antonio tries to pull her into a hug, but he can't wrap his arms around his wife.

"Honey, please stop crying you know how much I hate seeing you like this," Antonio says.

"Sorry, my golden knight the hormones are all over the place," Tracy says.

Tracy stops crying a minute or two later. She asks him for the fourth time during the pregnancy if she is going to be a good mom. Antonio tells her again that she's going to be a great mom and that they won't be doing this alone. They're going to have help from their families.

"That's true and I'm sure that our parents are going to spoil their new granddaughter," Tracy says.

Antonio chuckles. They walk to the kitchen. Tracy sits down at the table. Antonio goes over to the fridge.

"My little angel fish, I know you're still eating for two. What does Anastasia have a hankering for?" Antonio asks/ jokes.

"A fruit salad covered in nonfat chocolate syrup and whipped cream. A glass of Sprite thanks, honey." Tracy says.

Antonio grabs everything his wife wants out of the fridge He fixes her after nap snack and puts everything back. He walks over to her and sets it in front of her. She eats if as fast he can cut down an army of moogers. After Tracy wipes her face off and asks him for some more fruit salad.

"You got it honey." Antonio says.

Antonio makes her another salad and places it in front of her. She finishes her second salad two minutes later. The others walk in ten minutes later and see that Tracy is awake.

"Hey sis, how did you sleep?" Chris asks.

"Ok I guess so what's for dinner?" Tracy answers.

"Gazpacho with Shrimp and Raspberry turnover for dessert, how does that sound to you honey." Ballade answers.

Tracy says that sounds great to her. Ballade starts making dinner a few minutes later. Tracy stays at the table and waits for everyone else to leave. She lets out a long sigh.

"Ok sweetie what's wrong?" Ballade asks.

"Mom is it normal to feel really nervous about becoming a new mom?" Tracy answers.

"Yes sweetie that's completely normal. I know this won't help but I felt so nervous before Chris was born the doctors decided to induce me when I was 36 weeks." Ballade says.

"Mom you'll be there for me if I need any advice after Anastasia is born won't you." Tracy says.

"Of course I will sweetie that's want grandparents are for after all." Ballade tells her.

"I thought their job was to spoil their grand kids." Tracy jokes.

Ballade chuckles and asks her daughter if she can go get her brother to help her set the table. Tracy nods. She gets up and walks out to the living room.

Samurai First's

"Hey Chris mom wants you to help her set the table." Tracy says.

Chris nods and kisses Lauren on the cheek. He leaves to walk to the kitchen. Ten minutes later everyone is called for dinner. They finish eating dinner fifteen minutes later. Everyone is sitting in the living room. Amelia and Antonio James walk over towards where the mistletoe is. Chris and Lauren chase after them. They stop under it.

"Kiss," Amelia says.

"Please," Antonio James says.

Lauren looks up at Chris. She reminds him that his little brother did say the magic word. Chris doesn't say another word. He kisses her softly on the lips. After they back away Amelia and Antonio James clap. They walk back over to the others.

"Can we start singing the carols so we can light turn on the tree." Tracy says.

"Sure Angel." Ballade says.

Ballade and Fiacre sing "The First Noel", Chris sings "Little Drummer Boy" , Lauren sings "The 12 Days Of Christmas and Tracy and Antonio sing "Deck The Halls". Everyone walks over to the tree. Tracy hands Antonio the light switch for the tree. Antonio flips the switch. The tree light up and that part the room light up with the red and green lights along with the flashing yellow light from the tree topper.

"Before we wish the triplets merry Christmas there is one more thing I want to do." Chris says.

Chris turns to his left and takes Lauren hand. He starts to get really nervous. Tracy has an idea what is about to happen.

"Lauren, I know this is the triplets first Christmas but I wanted to make this even more special." Chris says.

HE slowly gets down on one knee and takes a small red box out of his pocket. He opens it and reveals a ring with the fire kanji on it inside of a heart and their birth stones outline the heart. Lauren eyes start to fill with happy tears.

"Lauren, will you marry me?" Chris asks.

"Yes" Lauren answers.

Chris puts the rings on her fingers and he gets to his feet. They kiss again. Then Tracy and Chris wish the younger siblings a merry first Christmas.

Everyone hears Luna start to bark. They turn around and see Snow start to fall outside. They walk to the front window and watch the snow slowly fall . They also see the reflection of the tree in the window too. Lauren sets her head on Chris shoulder. Antonio kisses Tracy on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas to you too my little angel fish" Antonio whispers

"Merry Christmas my golden knight" Tracy whispers back.


	2. First Baby

Antonio surprised Tracy with tickets to a taping The Doctors. They're sitting in the front row. Tracy is 40 weeks pregnant but she really wanted to be there. The show ends and Tracy had a really great time. They get up to leave. Tracy's water breaks when she walks up the first few steps. Antonio turns around quickly.

"What's wrong my little angelfish?" Antonio asks.

"Antonio, honey, my water just broke. Anastasia is coming." Tracy says through a contraction.

Tracy sits down in the chair next to her. Doctor Travis and Doctor Ashton dash over to her. The contraction passes, but Tracy is scared about what is going to happen next. Antonio tells her that he called 911.

"This is your first baby, am I right?" Doctor Ashton asks.

"Yes, I know I'm making it obvious aren't I," Tracy answers.

Doctor Ashton nods and tells Tracy everything is going to be okay. She and Antonio help her over to the stage. They lay Tracy in the position she needs to be in for delivering the baby. Doctor Sears and Doctor Smith come up with clean towels, blankets, some water, and a bulb syringe. Travis places the towels under Tracy. A few seconds later she tenses up and her breathing becomes irregular. Antonio takes her hand and squeezes it gently. Tracy looks over at him.

"Angel relax, everything is going to be fine. I promise." Antonio says calmly.

Tracy's breathing returns to normal and she relaxes. A few more intense contraction seconds later Travis sees Anastasia's head start to crown Travis places his hand on top of it and applies light pressure to allow it to come out slowly so the newborn won't get hurt.

"You're doing great sweetie," Antonio says.

Two minutes later another set of contractions start and Travis tells Tracy to push again. Anastasia's shoulders rotate so he supports her head. Tracy pushes one more time and the rest of the body passes through the birth canal. Travis catches Anastasia in a blanket and hands her to Doctor Sears.

Doctor Smith cleans her off. Sears dries her off and uses the syringe to clear Anastasia's nose and mouth. Tracy and Antonio hear their daughter cry for the first time. Tracy asks if she can see her. Doctor Sears places the baby on her chest.

"Of course you can, sweetie. Did you pick out a name for this little girl?" Doctor Sears asks.

"Anastasia" Antonio answers.

Doctor Travis deals with Tracy's placenta. Tracy looks down at her daughter. She was tired but starts smiling.

"I knew our daughter was going to be pretty just like her mom," Antonio says.

"She sure is honey, so I guess we'll find out if we're cut out to be parents," Tracy says.

The paramedics arrive and take them to the hospital. Tracy thanks Dr. Travis and the others for helping her. Travis tells her that he was just doing his job. Tracy and Antonio are happy that their daughter is healthy but nervously anticipate how their lives are going to change.


	3. Anastasia's first month

One month later Tracy and Antonio are slowly getting the hang of being parents. Today is their daughter's one month check up. Tracy walks in the kitchen carrying their beautiful baby girl. She sits down at the table. Antonio walks over to her. He kisses his wife on the cheek and hands her Anastasia's bottle.

Tracy thanks him. She feeds the one-month-old. They couldn't believe how fast Anastasia is growing up. Anastasia finishes her formula five minutes later. Tracy sets the bottle down on the table. She burps her.

"Antonio, is everything ready for us to go to the pediatrician?" Tracy asks.

Antonio nods. Tracy hands the baby over to him. She eats her breakfast. They leave the kitchen. Luna walks up with the diaper bag in her mouth. She sets it in front of Antonio.

"Thanks, Luna," he says.

They go to the front door. Luna follows them. She does a back flip to grab the leash off the coat hook. She sits up begging to come along.

"Sorry girl you can't come," Tracy says.

Antonio takes the leash back from her. He puts it back on the coat hook. Luna whines sadly. Antonio opens the door. They see Antonio's parents.

"Hi, sweetie, where are you three of to?" Sonia asks.

"We're off to the pediatrician for Anastasia's appointment, so why didn't you tell me that you were coming to visit?" Antonio answers.

"We wanted to surprise you," Sonia answers.

"We'll be back in an hour," Tracy says.

Marquis notices that Luna looks sad. He says, "We'll take Luna to the dog park."

Luna starts barking happily. Antonio gets the leash down and clips it to Luna's collar. He hands his dad the leash. Luna and Marquis head to the dog park. Sonia heads inside.

Tracy and Antonio continue to the car. Tracy puts Anastasia in her rear facing car seat that's in the back seat. She buckles her in and closes the door. She gets in the passenger seat. Antonio starts the car and they drive to the pediatrician's office.

They arrive at the office fifteen minutes later. Antonio turns off the car. Tracy gets their daughter out of the back seat. Then they head inside and Tracy signs Anastasia in. The receptionist tells her that Dr. Drobet will see them in a few minutes. They sit down in the waiting room.

_Why does that name sound so familiar to me? _Tracy thinks.

A few minutes later Dr. Drobet walks out. He has pure aqua eyes, dark ash brown hair with amber brown highlights and reddish tan skin. He calls Anastasia's name. Tracy and Antonio get up from their chairs. They walk over to him. Tracy does a double take as she recognizes who Dr. Drobet is.

"Bobby Drobet, I can't' believe that you decided to be a pediatrician. You look great by the way." Tracy says.

"Thank you, my inspiration came from my little cousin Faith pediatrician who helped her and her family to lose weight. It showed me that I would love to help other families make good choices too. I can't even tell that you've had a baby a month ago." Dr. Drobet says.I can't even tell that you've had a baby a month ago." Dr. Drobet says.

"Thanks, we also have a puppy that helps us stay active. I've been studying hard to apply to veterinary school." Tracy says.

They start the walk to the exam room.

"That's great I figured that you would want to go to veterinary school. I know how much you love animals." Dr. Drobet says.

"I'm curious did you get an invite to the reunion?" Tracy asks.

"Yes, but I couldn't get the day off." Dr. Drobet says.

They walk into the exam room. He finishes the exam in twenty-five minutes. Anastasia is eight pounds and twenty inches long. Tracy and Antonio are happy that their daughter is healthy. Dr. Drobet asks Tracy how she is feeling.

"I feel a little tired and overwhelmed. Should I be concerned, doctor?" Tracy answers.

"Not at all, most first-time moms feel like that during the first month. How long has it been since the two of you had a night out?" Dr. Drobet asks.

They look over at each other quickly. Dr. Drobet figures that meant it's been a while. He suggests that they take the night off to relax. Tracy is hesitant about the idea.

"My parents did show up to visit. I'm sure that they'll love to babysit their granddaughter." Antonio says.

They leave the office and head home. Later that day Tracy walks into the living room. She is wearing a Pintuck tank, BB Dakota Blazer, banana republic Pants, J. Crew Scarf, and Jessica Simpson Flats. She has a Simply Vera Wang Bag hanging on her sits down on the couch. Sonia comes in with Anastasia.

"Tracy, you look great. Don't' worry about Anastasia she is in good hands. You two have fun tonight." Sonia says.

"Thanks again for watching her Sonia." Tracy says.

Antonio walks in a few minutes later. He is wearing an Isaac Mizrahi Live Sweater Nautica Pants and matching shoes. Tracy walks over to Sonia and kisses Anastasia.

"Be a good girl for grandpa and grandma." Tracy says.

Anastasia coos softly. Tracy walks back over to Antonio and they leave the house. They go to the movies and see The Fault in Our Stars. After they leave the theater Tracy reaches into her pocket to take out her cell phone. Antonio quickly takes a hold of her hand.

"Honey, relax, I'm sure Anastasia is fine. We're supposed to be having fun remember?" Antonio says.

"I know honey, I'm sorry," Tracy says.

They get in the car and Antonio drives to BJ's Restaurant &amp; Brewhouse. Antonio turns off the car and the walk inside the restaurant. They sit down at the table. Antonio orders a Pepsi and Tracy orders strawberry lemonade. The waitress gives them their drinks. She gives them a few minutes to look over the menu. Ten minutes later the waitress comes back.

"Have you decided what you like to eat?" The waitress asks.

"Yes, I'll have Crispy Jalapeño Burger." Antonio says.

"Great choice and for you ma'am?" The waitress says.

"I'll have the classic turkey sandwich," Tracy says.

The waitress leaves to put their order in. She comes back ten minutes later with their food. They finished eating fifteen minutes later. The waitress asks them if they have room for dessert. They say yes. Antonio orders BJ's Baked Beignet and Tracy orders a Triple Chocolate Pizookie® Made with Ghirardelli®.

After they finish eating dessert Antonio goes to pay the check. They leave the restaurant and go back out to the car. They drive back to the apartment. Sonia walks out of Anastasia nursery. She sees Tracy and Antonio walking into the living room.

"Anastasia was an angel. We can stay a bit longer if you two still want to do something else." Sonia says.

"No thanks mom" Antonio says.

Everyone walks back to the front door. Tracy thanks Sonia and Marquis for watching their grand baby. They say that they'll watch her anytime. Tracy says they might call on them to watch her when their anniversary comes along.

"We're looking forward to it." Sonia says.

Everyone says good night. Tracy and Antonio head back to their bedroom. Tracy changes out of her outfit. She climbs into bed. Antonio climbs in a few seconds later. They drift to sleep not soon after both happy that they know they're doing a good job as parents.


	4. First Easter

Tracy and Antonio flew to Michigan so they could spend Anastasia's first Easter with the family there. Anastasia is 11 months old now. Everyone is standing in the living room waiting to leave for church. Amelia and Angela are in tiered sear sucker dress, tulle flower headband, a faux patent purse and matching ballet flats. Antonio James is wearing a dressy Oxford vest, a straw Fedora, slim dark stone jeans, plaid shirt and Ruum stripe slip on shoes. Anastasia is in the two-piece butterfly dress that Ballade bought for her. The dads are in slim stretch cotton button up shirts, narrow silk Tartan plaid ties, nice pants and Sperry top-slider men's comfortable Mac boat shoes. The moms are wearing Garnet hill essential sundresses; Genoa knit cardigans, Del Mar flower strand statement necklace and matching Steve Madden wedge sandals.

"I can't believe how fast Anastasia is growing," Tracy says.

"Well sweetie, I knew that you would be a great mom. You and Antonio raised a beautiful girl. She has your personality too." Ballade says.

"Thanks, mom," Tracy says.

A few minutes later everyone leaves to head to church. After a thirty-minute drive they get there. They walk up the stairs to the first level where the sanctuary is.

"I'm going to give Antonio and Anastasia a tour of the building," Tracy says.

"Just be back before the service starts," Ballade says.

Tracy nods. They leave the group. The first stop is the nursery. Anastasia's eyes light up instantly when she sees all the toys. Tracy looks down at her.

"Sorry baby girl, we can't stay and play. I have a few more places to show you and daddy. We'll come back I promise." Tracy says.

A few seconds later Anastasia starts crying. Tracy starts bouncing to get her to stop. Meanwhile, Pastor Rodriguez walks out of the study. She has brown eyes, long, curly chestnut-brown hair, and light-colored skin. She hears the baby crying and follows the sound to the nursery. She gets there to see Antonio making fish faces to help Tracy to get Anastasia to stop crying. After making fish faces for two minutes, Anastasia starts giggling. They turn around and see Pastor Rodriguez standing in the doorway. They walk over to her.

"Sorry Pastor Rodriguez I guess our daughter has a big mouth like her grandpa. She loves playing with toys just like her cousins." Tracy says.

"It's fine I raised two boys myself. This is the grand baby your parents seem to keep going on about. "Pastor Rodriguez says.

"I'm sure that they must have forgotten your sermon on the fruits of the spirit." Tracy says.

"That sermon was a few months ago, so I'll forgive them for forgetting what I said." Pastor Rodriguez says.

Tracy properly introduces Pastor Rodriguez to her family. After Antonio shakes Pastor Rodriguez hand, she welcomes him and Anastasia to the church. She also fills them in on the special music problem in the service this morning. Two of the choir members were going to sing a duet, but the tenor lost his voice after helping out at the Easter egg hunt yesterday.

"Well, I guess Antonio and I could fill in," Tracy says.

Pastor Rodriguez says she would really appreciate it. They hear Anastasia start to clap. Tracy jokes that she knows that their number one fan is happy too. Pastor Rodriguez leaves to go tell the minister of music, Mahi, the good news. They leave a few minutes later and walk in the sanctuary. Mahi and the three members of the praise team the soprano Kim and the two tenors Jack and Andy walk up.

"Tracy it's so nice to see you again. Your daughter is so adorable. Your husband looks very handsome too." Kim says.

"Thank you Kim." Tracy says.

"Kim, could you hold Anastasia while Antonio and I sing," Tracy says.

"I"d be happy to," Kim says.

Tracy hands her daughter over. The praise team sits down in the first pew. Tracy and Antonio walk up to the stage and get into place. Antonio adjusts the height of the microphone in front of him. They rearrange the sheet music on the stand as well so they can read all the words. Tracy nods to Mahi and she starts playing "I know My Redeemer Lives."

They finish the song and see their daughter clapping. Kim and Andy get up and walk over to them. Kim hands Anastasia back to her mom. Andy tells them that sounded great. Tracy thanks him for the compliment. Ten minutes later the service starts. Tracy and the family sit down in the third pew from the front. Pastor Rodriguez welcomes everyone to the service. She says a few announcements.

After she finished she tells everyone to pass the peace (this_ means that everyone goes around saying good morning.) _The congregation remains standing for the opening songs and the call to worship. They sit down for the choir anthem and the Pastoral prayer. Pastor Rodriguez calls the children to come up from the children's message. Ballade gets up to let the triplets out. Amelia walks up last carrying Anastasia. She sits down on the floor and sets Anastasia in her lap.

"Okay, I'm going to tell you the story to remind you that Jesus Loves You," Pastor Rodriguez says.

Pastor Rodriguez finishes the story two minutes later. She asks the kids to bow their heads to pray. Antonio takes out his camera to take a picture of Anastasia praying. He keeps his phone out. Pastor Rodriguez finishes her prayer. She dismisses the children. Anastasia gets out of her cousin's lap. She stands up. Antonio quickly turns the phone camera on. Amelia walks up to her. She is about to pick her up.

"No, sweetie, just let her go," Ballade says.

Ballade gets out of the pew and stands in the aisle. Anastasia smiles seeing her grandma. She picks up her left foot and sets it back down. Antonio turns on his cell phone camera. The congregation watches her takes her first steps.

"That's it, sweetie. Keep going come to grandma." Ballade says.

Anastasia picks up the pace. Antonio turns off the camera after she gets to Ballade. The congregation cheers as Ballade picks her up. Tracy wipes her tears of joy away.

_Wow, our baby girl took her first steps on Easter morning that has to mean something important I just know it._ Tracy thinks.

Ballade sits down in the pew after the triplets sit back down. Then Tracy and Antonio walks up to the front of the sanctuary before the worship leader calls the usher to come forward. Mahi plays the intro to the song. Everyone listens to them sing. The song ends two minutes later.

"Amen," The congregation says.

Twenty minutes later the service ends. They wait for the closing song to end before they leave. Pastor Rodriquez comes up to them while they're standing in the narthex.

"Tracy, you and your husband sounded great this morning. Thanks again for helping out." Pastor Rodriquez says.

"You're welcome Pastor Rodriquez." Antonio says.

After the triplets come back from the bathroom. Ballade hands Pastor Rodriquez her camera. she asks her if she could take a picture. Pastor Rodriquez says she would love to. After she takes the picture Ballade thanks her for take it. Pastor Rodriquez says she was glad to do it, as she hands the camera back to her. Then the group leaves to head to Ram's Horn for Easter Lunch.


	5. First Mother's Day

Antonio wakes up at four am. He gets out of bed carefully, so he didn't wake Tracy up. The baby monitor picks up the sound of their 11-month-old daughter waking up. He heads to her room and goes over to his crib. Anastasia smiles when she sees him. He picks her up.

"Good morning baby girl. How about we get you some breakfast? Then I'll make mommy hers." Antonio says.

Anastasia nods happily. He walks to the kitchen and steps over the baby gate in the doorway. Anastasia got the hang of moving around on her little feet really quick, and could walk across the living room in one minute flat. He walks over to her high chair. He sets her inside it and buckles her in.

He makes Anastasia her breakfast a bowl a yogurt with chunks of bananas mixed in. She finished eating ten minutes later. He cleans her up and puts her in the playpen. He turns around to see Luna jump over the baby gate. She walks over to her food dish and sits down next to it.

"Okay, girl. I'll get you your breakfast too." Antonio says.

He goes back over to the cupboard and takes out a can of Luna's favorite dog food duck and potato. He opens open the silverware drawer and takes out a tablespoon. He opens the can and walks back over to the puppy. Luna watches him intently as spoon the food into her dish. She starts to eat it quickly after Antonio puts the last spoonful in.

"Slow down girl no one is going to take it away from you," Antonio says.

He leaves after Luna starts to eat her food a bit slower. He put the can in the recycle bin. After he puts the spoon in the sink and washes the bits of food off his finger. He gathers everything he needs to make Tracy's special Mother's day breakfast blueberry lemon muffins and freshly squeezed orange juice.

Back in their bedroom Tracy wakes up and slowly gets out of bed. She heads to the bathroom after she gets her clothes out of the closet. Her outfit for today is a floral dress, Leopard Band Straw Trilby Hat, a pair of FERRY Flat Sandals and a mixed metal necklace. She sets the sandals on the floor, the hat on the wall on the hook next to her bath robe and drapes the dress over the back of the toilet. She turns on the faucet to temper the water for her shower. She turns the knob to the left and places her elbow under it. She is happy with the temperature, so she pulls the knob on it up to turn the shower on. Twenty minutes later Tracy gets out and changes into the clothes she brought. She plugs the Instyler Wet 2 Dry in the wall. After it heats up, she takes the towel off her head and uses it to style her hair. She finishes ten minutes later. She puts the hat on and leaves to head to the kitchen.

She walks in the kitchen and see Antonio place a pitcher of orange juice on the table along with a plate full of the muffins he made for her. He looks up and sees his beautiful wife.

"You look great my little angelfish, Feliz Dia De Las Madres," Antonio says.

"Gracias, my golden knight, so what do you think about spending the day at the zoo?" Tracy says.

They hear Luna bark happily and Anastasia clap loudly. Tracy chuckles softly. Antonio does too.

"I guess that means they're okay with it," Tracy says.

"Sure sounds like it angel, so I suggest we eat before it gets cold," Antonio says.

A few minutes later they finish eating. Antonio clears the table and puts the dishes in the dishwasher. He takes a small envelope out of his pocket and walks back over to the table. He sets it down and Tracy asks him what's inside.

"Open it and find out my little angelfish," Antonio says.

Tracy opens it. Her eyes light up instantly, as she slides the pair of Rascal Flatts tickets quickly and sets them on top if the envelope. She reads the ticket, it reads live at The Pasadena Civic Center Rascal Flatts 8:00 pm July 21, 2015.

"Honey, how did you get these I thought it's sold out?" Tracy asks.

"The local radio station had a contest to win them. You're about to love me even more because I also got backstage passes to meet the band." Antonio says.

Tracy sets the tickets on the table. She gets up from her chair and runs over to him. Antonio feels Tracy crash her lips against his a few seconds later. After the kiss ends they walk over to the playpen. Anastasia smiles seeing her parents walk up.

"Mamá," Anastasia says.

Tracy picks her up. She bounces her up and down to celebrate her saying her first word. They leave for the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Garden. They arrive fifteen minutes later. After Antonio pays for the tickets and rents a stroller. They get a map and sit down on a bench. Antonio unfolds it and puts it at a level where he and Tracy could read it.

"Where should we go first, the lions, the apes, the bears, the tortoises, the Komodo dragon, of the rain forest of the Americas?" Antonio asks.

"I don't know sweetie," Tracy answers.

Anastasia shifts in her mother's arm. She points to the lions. The parents chuckle and decide to head there. Tracy puts Anastasia in the stroller. Antonio refolds the map, and they head over to the lions. They walk up to the habitat ten minutes later.

"Kitty," Anastasia says.

"Yes, Ana, really big kitty. I wonder what Jayden and Ashley are up too. I'm sort of what to know what my brother and Lauren are doing." Tracy whispers.

"I heard that angel, how about we call them a bit later?" Antonio says.

"That sounds like a good plan my golden knight," Tracy says.

They go see next the Komodo Dragon and it remind Tracy of Kevin. Every time they see an animal that is similar to one of her friends zords it makes Tracy think about them and wonder how they're doing. After they finish looking at the apes the Garcia family heads to Gorilla Grill for lunch**.** Tracy takes Anastasia out of the stroller. She places her in the high chair. Antonio ties Luna's collar to his chair. Luna sits down. Antonio goes to order lunch. Tracy takes out her phone and dials Ashley's number first. The phone rings three times before she hears her best friend's voice.

"Hey t-dawg, happy mother's day, so what's up?" Ashley asks.

"Nothing much really we spending the day at the zoo, so how have you been?"

"Everything is great. How everything is going with Anastasia?" Ashley asks.

"Amazing, and Anastasia said her first word today,"

"That's great, I bet she said mom," Ashley says.

"Yes, do you know what the others are up to?"

"Kevin made the team for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Mia is working hard a cooking school. Emily told me that Serena is all better now. Mike is planning on opening up his own dance studio in a few months. Chris and Lauren are enjoying being engaged. Jayden and I thought about having a barbecue at the Shiba house." Ashley says.

"Thanks for the updates, and when you two planning on having that barbecue?"

"We were think father's day that way we could see you and Antonio again." Ashley answers.

"That sounds great,"

"Okay, we'll see you then.I've got to go," Ashley says.

They hang up, and Tracy puts her phone back in her purse. She sees Antonio walk up with their food.

"So my little angelfish, what did you find out about the others?" Antonio asks.

Tracy tells him everything Ashley told her.

"I;m glad that everyone is doing well," Antonio says.

They finish eating a few minutes later. Antonio leaves to throw the trash away. Tracy puts their daughter back in the stroller. They visit the rainforest of the Americas. They also stopped by a souvenir shop before heading home. They bought Anastasia a made in California Baby Hat.

Tracy puts the comatose Anastasia in her car seat. Luna hops in the back seat too.

Antonio pulls on the highway a few minutes later. Tracy looks in the rear view mirror. She sees Luna curled up sleeping too holding her favorite toy in her mouth. The only thing she does is smile because she is happy that everyone had a good time today. Tracy takes her phone out of her purse to make one more phone call.

"I'm sorry about waiting so long to call happy mother's day mom." Tracy says.

"It's okay, sweetie, thank you, the same to you," Ballade says.

They talk for a bit before they hang up. Tracy puts her phone away. They get home and walk inside. Antonio carries Luna inside. He places her on her dog bed in the living room. Tracy brings Anastasia in and takes her to her room. She lays her in the crib, and leaves the room quietly. Tracy gets to their room. She sees Antonio fast asleep.

"I guess he had fun too." Tracy whispers.

Tracy gets in bed too after she changes into her pajamas. She snuggled up next to him. A few seconds later she drifts to sleep with a big smile on her face.

* * *

Translations

Feliz Dia De Las Madres - Happy Mother's Day

Gracias - thank you

Mamá - mommy


	6. First Father's Day

The car ride was longer than the Garcia family expected because there was a bad accident on the expressway two miles away from the exit they needed to get off at. Jayden and Ashley stand on the front porch. They watch the Garcia family car pull in the driveway. Tracy gets out first. She opens the back door and Luna jumps out. Tracy takes Anastasia out of her car seat. Luna turns around and sees Ashley. She runs over to her. Jayden sees the puppy pins Ashley to the ground.

"Aw, she missed you." he says.

Antonio runs uu and he says, "Luna, Detente."

She stops and walks over to him. He helps Ashley back to her feet and says, "Sorry about that Ashley,"

"Don't worry about it buddy I know that Luna only did that because she was happy to see her," Jayden says.

Anastasia walks up to her dad. Tracy follows close behind her. Anastasia gets to him a few seconds later. She tugs on her dad's pant leg. Ashley looks down and sees Anastasia for the first time in person.

"Aw, are you the cutest thing ever," Ashley says.

Anastasia smiles as Ashley sees her smile she melts even more. She looks back up to avoid turning to mush.

"Tracy, I have a question how many people have told you that she looks just like you?" Jayden asks.

"Let's see my mom, Antonio's mom, all of my friends on Facebook, the checkout worker at the store, and random people I met at the park. I would have to say just a few people." Tracy answers.

"Well, T-dawg at least having a kid hasn't affected your sense of humor." Ashley says.

"Why don't we head inside?" Jayden says.

Everyone walks inside to the living room. Except Anastasia, she sprints in, so Luna follows her to make sure she doesn't get hurt.

"She may look like Tracy, but she definitely inherited her speed from you, Antonio." Jayden says.

"You got that right Jay. I'm really glad we have Luna too that puppy is like a second mom to her." Antonio says.

They sit down in the chairs. Luna sits down next to Ashley's chair. Anastasia climbs up on the chair closest to her. Ji walks in a few minutes later with a try with some tea and a few finger foods on it. He sits down as well next to Jayden on his right. After seeing the food Anastasia's eyes light up, so she gets down from her chair.

She walks over to the table and picks up a sandwich. She is about to eat it when she hears Luna bark, she turns back around and tosses it towards her. Luna catches it in mid-air. Anastasia cheers and is about to try it again. Antonio goes over to and stops her before she picks up another sandwich.

"Ana, no, those are for us, not the dog." Antonio says.

"She is a trouble magnet, just like her dad, right Tracy?" Jayden asks.

"Yes Jay, just another quality she inherited from her father."Tracy answers.

Antonio goes back over to his seat. A few minutes later they see the lion, snow leopard, octozord, and owl zord come in the room. The owl, lion and snow leopard zord go over to their old owners. The octozord lands on Anastasia's head. She starts to giggle as it tickles her head. It stays there for a few seconds before it flies away. Antonio sets her back down. Anastasia runs up to it and tries to catch it. After she leaps up several times the octozord flies towards the dojo. She follows it and climbs up the small step to the hallway. She walks across it and jumps down onto the floor in the dojo.

"Do you have any idea where she gets her adventurous spirit from?" Jayden asks.

"I have absolutely no idea." Tracy answers.

They hear Anastasia shriek happily as she continues to chance the octozord around. Everyone gets up and walks to the dojo and watch the 15-month-old run around the room. Another ten minutes pass before she is able to catch it. She sits down on the floor holding the zord close to her like a teddy bear. A few minutes later she drifts off to sleep. Tracy walks in, picks her daughter up, and goes back over to the others. Antonio tries to take the octozord out of his daughter's hands. She just hugs it tighter.

"Her room is the same one we set up when the triplets were born," Ji says.

She leaves to put Anastasia down for her nap. After Tracy kisses her on the forehead and tickled her in she hears the door bell ring. She leaves the room, goes to the front door and opens it. The triplets are about to scream her name and tackle her to the floor. She brings her index fingers to her lips while saying "shhh".

"Why", Amelia asks.

"I just put Anastasia down for her nap." Tracy answers.

"Does that mean we can't play with her?" Amelia asks.

"Yes hermanita, but you can play with Luna in the front yard quietly." Tracy says.

"Okay," Amelia says.

Tracy invites her parents in. She leaves to go get a few toys for the triplets. She comes back with a Planet Dog Orbee Tuff Cosmos Luna Glow Ball, R2P Pet Sprong Fetch Dog Toy Stick and Rose Shadow rope flyer. The triplets are about to argue about who gets what toy.

"Amelia, you can have the ball. Angel, you get the rope flyer and little bro you get the fetch stick." Tracy says.

She hands her younger sibling the toys. They start running outside except for Amelia. Ballade reminds her kids not to run in the house. They stop running and walk the rest of the way out of the room.

"What's wrong Amelia?" Tracy asks.

"Aren't you coming?" Amelia asks.

"Sorry hermanita, I have to help Ashley make lunch for everyone." Tracy answers.

"Pretty please," Amelia says, as she starts to make her sad face.

"Amelia that face isn't going to work on me. Remember, I taught it to you." Tracy says.

"Tracy, I would feel better if you went out there to watch them play." Ballade says.

"Fine, I'll go," Tracy says.

Amelia cheers quietly. She and Tracy walk outside. Tracy sees a few games Ashley set up for the barbecue: a watermelon roll, a potato sack race, and a bubble game. Luna sits down in front of the triplets and waits for one of them to throw a toy. Antonio James throws the stick. It goes a half way across the yard. Amelia tries to throw the ball, but it doesn't go really far.

"Aw man I'm no good at this." she says.

"Relax hermanita; all you need is a little practice. Do you want me to show you how to throw it?" Tracy asks.

"Yes, por favor." Amelia says.

Luna sets the ball in front of Tracy's feet. She picks it up.

"Okay, hermanita, first let's try using your right hand," Tracy says.

Tracy places the ball in Amelia's right hand. She pretends that she has a ball in her right hand.

"Okay, hermanita, bring your left foot forward just like me, then bring the ball behind your ear and keep your elbow bent," Tracy says.

Amelia continues to watch her older sister and mimic her movement. Tracy points her non-throwing arm to where she wants to ball to go. She pretends to throw the ball in her hand. Amelia does the same thing. They watch the ball fly toward the pool filled with the bubble game sign in front of it. Luna runs over to the pool and jumps into it. She comes back with the ball and shakes off the soapy water. They get hit with it.

"Nice throw hermanita, but next time let's not throw it in the pool." Tracy says.

"Okay," Amelia says.

"Tracy, can you teach me how to throw the rope toy, please?" Angela asks.

"Sure Angela" Tracy answers.

An hour passes and the triplets where having fun playing fetch with Luna. Tracy hears her daughter call for her. She tells them that she'll be back in a minute. She also says that they can keep playing but they have to behave.

"We will sissy" they say.

Tracy smiles and goes back inside to get Anastasia. She comes back outside Anastasia is holding her hand. The baby's eyes light up when she sees her aunts and uncle. She let's go her mom's hand, and climbs backward down the step. She runs over to Amelia.

They four of them play for another twenty minutes till everyone is called for lunch. Everyone walk back inside the house to the kitchen. Tracy puts Anastasia in her high chair. She sits down at the table.

"What's for lunch mom?" Amelia asks.

"Grilled Salmon with Dill and Lemon" Ballade answers.

"That sounds delicious," Antonio says.

Ballade sets the plates on the table. Everyone finished eating ten minutes later. Ballade tells everyone that she made a doughnut upside down cake for dessert. Tracy and Ballade get up. Ballade goes over to the counter to get the cake and the plates. Tracy clears the table. Ballade sets the cake down on the table.

"Can I have the biggest piece mom?" Angela says.

"Sweetie, I think your dad and Antonio should have the biggest pieces since it is Father's Day." Ballade says.

She cuts the cake and the two fathers a big piece of cake. Then everyone else gets their cake. Tracy sets a piece of cake in front of Anastasia. She picks it up and smashes on her face.

"I guess that means she likes it." Tracy jokes.

Everyone laughs. After the laughter dies down everyone eats dessert. Tracy helps her mom do the dishes. Then everyone heads back outside to play a few games. The watermelon roll is first. Ashley hands the triplets and the other adults a watermelon. They line up at the end of the drive way. Anastasia walks up with the Glow Ball, and sets it down on the line just like everyone else.

"Sissy, that's not a watermelon." Angela says.

"I know, but let's let her play anyway. Remember, this is just for fun." Tracy says.

Ashley raises the checked flag. After she says go everyone pushes their melon. They watch the melon and the dog toy roll down the driveway. Anastasia shrieks happily when the dog toy reaches the finish line first.

"Anastasia wins," Ashley says.

Ashley walks over to her. She gives her a big hug for her prize. The potato sack race is next. The starting line is Ji's garden and the finish line is the edge of the platform where the rangers practiced. Anastasia grabs a pillow case and runs over to lines up next to her aunts and uncle. Tracy picks her up before she gets there.

"Sorry Ana, you're not big enough for this game. Mommy doesn't want you to get hurt." Tracy says.

"Tracy, just let her do it. She is going to have to learn how to hop someday." Ashley says.

Tracy sets her back down. Anastasia lines up next to Angela. She shows Anastasia how to climb in the pillow case. Ashley blows a whistle to tell everyone to start the race.

"Okay Ana, just do what I do," Angela says.

Angela takes a small hop forward. Anastasia copies her. Angela takes two more hops forward. Anastasia does too. Anastasia catches on fast, so they're able to pick up the pace. The girls tie for third place. Angela didn't care that she lost because she had fun teaching Anastasia how to hop.

The kids really enjoyed the bubble game. Especially Anastasia she kept popping the bubbles every time they got close to her. Luna even got into to action by trying to eat them. A few hours later it was dark enough to start the bonfire. Tracy put Anastasia to bed. Ballade let the triplets stay up a bit longer.

"Mom, I thought I would show the triplets the star game." Tracy says.

"They would love that," Ballade says.

"Mom, what's the star game?" Amelia asks.

"It's like a big game of connect the dots with the stars. I can eve show you where to find my friends kanji symbols are." Tracy says.

"Cool," Antonio James says.

They walk over to the platform, and lay down. Tracy shows the triplets where to find her kanji first. Then she showed them her husband's is. The last one she showed them is Kevin's because it's the hardest one to find. She looks to her left and sees her siblings fast asleep. She smiles, and gets to her feet. Ballade and Antonio walk over.

"I guess they finally decided it's bed time, huh mom?" Tracy whispers.

Ballade nods. Tracy turns around to face the sleeping triplets. She picks up her little brother. Ballade picks up Angela and Antonio picks up Amelia. They walk in the house to put them to bed. They leave the triplets room to head to their rooms.

Tracy and Antonio enter their room. Antonio closes the door behind him. They go over to the bed. Antonio lays down first, and Tracy lies down in his arms. HE pulls her in close. She tries her best not to fall asleep.

"So my golden knight, did you have fun today?" Tracy asks.

"Yes, I did my little angel fish." Antonio says.

They're excited about their one-year wedding anniversary next month. Tracy kept talking about how great the concert is going to be. Antonio says the same thing. They fall asleep a few seconds later. Both have a big smile on their faces.

* * *

Detente - stop

hermanita - little sister

Por favor - please

* * *

**Remember reviews are appreciated**


	7. First Wedding Annivsary

Tracy is really happy because today is her and Antonio's wedding anniversary. Antonio, on the other hand, is nervous. He is sitting at the kitchen table. He is wearing an unprinted that is neatly tucked into his jeans and pair of comfortable shoes. Tracy and Anastasia stand in the doorway. Anastasia is holding her mom's hand. Tracy is wearing her favorite pair of jeans, a ladies black I won't Let Go tee and pair of cowboy boots that her uncle Darrel gave her for her birthday last year. She notices that Antonio is acting the same way that Jayden described to her the first time they went to go see Rascal Flatts.

"Daddy," Anastasia says.

Antonio smiles, He gets up and walks over to them. Anastasia lets go of her mom's hand. She holds up her arms and makes the motions with her hand to tell her dad she wants him to pick her up. Antonio chuckles. He bends down and picks her up.

"Antonio, I called Ashley and Jayden earlier to ask them if they can come over to babysit for us tonight. Ashley said that they would be happy to." Tracy says.

"Yeah Jay Jay, Ashley coming," Anastasia says.

The Garcia's chuckle, they hear the door bell ring two minutes later. They walk to the door. Tracy opens it and greets her friends.

"Thanks again for babysitting Anastasia tonight," Tracy says.

"You're welcome; you two should get going to beat the concert traffic," Ashley says.

Tracy nods. Antonio hands Anastasia to Jayden. The parents kiss their daughter goodbye and everyone swaps places. Anastasia waves goodbye as her parents leave. Tracy and Antonio get in the car and drive to the concert. After the car pulls out of the driveway Jayden and Ashley walk into the apartment. They see the apartment is decorated with the perfect balance of decorations and furniture from Mexico and America.

"Wow, this is a really nice looking apartment," Ashley says.

"Can't argue with you there Ashley, our friends have a good eye for interior design," Jayden says.

They walk to the living room and sit down. Luna walks up with a tennis ball in her mouth. She sets it down in front of Ashley's feet.

"Luna play," Anastasia says.

The puppy barks and wags her tail happily. Ashley picks up the ball. She rolls it along the floor. They watch the puppy chase after it. Meanwhile at The Pasadena Civic center, one of the bands bodyguards show them backstage. Tracy watches the band walk up. Gary Levox the lead singer, Jay Demarcus the bassist and background singer and Joe Don Rooney the guitarist and harmony singer.

"You must be the content winner. Who is this lovely woman standing next to you?" Jay asks.

"Weren't you two at the concert in Paradorma city in 2010?" Gary asks.

"Yes, we were. I can't believe that the lead singer of my favorite country band remembered us." Tracy says.

"Well honey, you do look exactly the same you did when we were teenagers. Expect that you might have gained some weight after the wedding and giving birth to our daughter." Antonio says.

"Thank you for saying might have and a little weight," Tracy says.

"You wouldn't happen to have a picture of your daughter, would you?" Joe asks.

Antonio nods. He takes the picture out of his wallet and hands it to him. The other members stand behind Joe.

"What's your adorable daughter's name?" Gary asks.

"Anastasia," Tracy answers.

Joe hands the picture back to Antonio. He puts it back in his wallet.

"Sweetheart, I found the set list for tonight's concert online. It so happens that they're playing "Bless The Broken Road"." Antonio says.

"That's great honey, but we danced to the acoustic version at our wedding," Tracy says.

"I just had a thought how would you two like to sing the song when we get to that point in the show?" Gray asks.

"That would make our one year anniversary really special. I'm in, what about you, angel?" Antonio says.

"I don't know Antonio; this place seats over three thousand people. I'm not sure if I can sing in front of that many people, but this is an amazing opportunity. I'm in too." Tracy says.

"Great I'll go tell the stage manager," Gray says.

The band leaves to get ready for the concert. Tracy and Antonio wait patiently for them to return. Meanwhile at the apartment Anastasia is sitting on Jayden's lap. Luna is taking a nap on her dog bed. Ashley left to go get some snacks for everyone. The 11-month old's curious hands reach into his jacket pocket. She takes out a red velvet covered ring box and opens it. She sees the Rose gold pavé sapphire halo engagement ring Jayden is planning on giving to Ashley.

"Pretty," Anastasia says.

Jayden looks down at her. His eyes widened in shock seeing Anastasia holding the ring box. He takes the car keys out of his other pocket.

"Anastasia, that's not for you," Jayden says.

Jayden takes the box from Anastasia. She giggles happily as she shakes the keys up and down. He closes the box and puts it back in his pocket. Ashley comes in with a tray. She sets it down on the coffee table.

_I don't understand it I faced off against Master Xandred without getting nervous. I should have asked Antonio how he stayed so calm when he proposed to Tracy._ Jayden thinks.

Ashley looks over at her boyfriend. She watches him swallow the lump in his throat and take a few deep breaths then let them out slowly. She walks over to him.

"Are you okay honey?" Ashley asks.

Jayden doesn't say a word. He gets up and stands in front of her with shaky hands. He takes a few seconds to remember the words he wants to say.

"Honey, I'm going to do my best to do this exactly the way you expect this moment to be. Ashley, you're strong, independent and fearless. Thank you for helping me discover what other things I'm capable of doing when I go outside my comfort zone. I really want to know what else you can teach me as a wife." Jayden says.

Ashley watches him take the ring box out of his pocket. He gets down on one knee and opens it. Ashley's eyes fill instantly with happy tears after seeing the beautiful ring.

"Ashley Catherine Nanette, will you marry me?" Jayden asks.

"Yes, Jayden Micah Shiba, of course, I will," Ashley says.

Jayden removes the ring from the box. He slides it onto her finger. He gets back to his feet. They share a quick kiss. Then they sit back down the couch. Anastasia climbs onto Ashley's lap and sits down. Back at the concert the band finished playing "Fast Cars and Freedom".

"Before we play our next song I would like to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Antonio Garcia. They'll be singing for you." Gray says.

Tracy and Antonio walk out on stage. The crowd cheers loudly. The sound booth operator turns on their microphones. The band starts to play "Bless The Broken Road". Tracy feels her heart beating so fast that she thought it would leap out of her chest.

_Here goes nothing,_ Tracy thinks.

After Tracy hears the last bar of the introduction she starts to sing the first two lines of the first verse. Antonio sings the next two lines. The sing the chorus in perfect harmony, Antonio starts the second verse. Tracy sings the last two lines of the second verse. They sing the chorus again. When the band plays the bridge between the chorus and the last verse, Antonio takes her left hand and spins her around.

Tracy lets go of his hand so they would stand face to face. She sings the first two lines of the last verse. They sing the last line in perfect harmony. Antonio pulls Tracy in towards him. He kisses her on the forehead as the song fades out. The crowd cheers again as they walk back stage. The band starts to play Banjo.

The rest of the concert was amazing. They got to meet Sheryl Crow and hear her sing live. Tracy feels her pocket vibrate when the band is playing "Me and My Gang". She reaches into her pocket and takes out her phone. Ashley's number flashes on the screen. Tracy makes a motion with her head telling Antonio to follow her. She answers the call and puts it on speaker phone.

"Ashley, please tell me that our daughter is okay?" Tracy asks.

"Relax t-dawg, she is fine. We do need a little help getting her to fall asleep." Ashley answers.

"That's probably because she misses her mom and dad. We could sing her a lullaby." Tracy says.

"That would be great," Ashley says.

Tracy and Antonio sing Anastasia's favorite Spanish lullaby. After they finish the song the couple can hear the sound of a door closing quietly.

"Thanks, one more thing Jayden purposed to me tonight." Ashley says.

"You're welcome and congratulations," Tracy says.

The women refrain from shrieking happily to avoid waking Anastasia. They hang up after Ashley sent her a picture of the ring. Tracy sighs in relief knowing that this night when perfectly for her and Antonio. She is so happy that her best friend and her husband's best friend are going to get married.


	8. Anastasia's First Birthday

March 14th finally arrive today was Anastasia first birthday. Tracy and Antonio decorated the apartment with pink and gold decorations. They set up pretty glittered drinking cups, pink striped straws and pink bubbles to blow as favors for the triplets. The dessert table is the highlight of the party featuring a gorgeous pink ombre ruffle cake. Strawberry cupcakes with glittery pink balls and glittery gold hearts, strawberry meringues and little flower shaped chocolates, sugar cookies, and rice Krispy treats dipped in white chocolate. Anastasia's high chair had a happy birthday banner on it along with a birthday hat. The far end of the hallway is set up for baby bottle bowling. They also hung a small piñata from the ceiling in the living room as well.

They go to Anastasia's room to go get, their daughter, the birthday girl. She wakes up from her nap when she hears the door open. Antonio picks her up and carries her over to the changing table. He puts on a fresh diaper. Tracy goes to the closet and gets Haute Baby Purr-Fect Girls Pink / Gold Ivy Rose Fancy Slip Dress. Tracy walks back over to her husband and daughter. She puts the dress on her. They leave the room and head back to the living room. They sit down on the couch. Luna walks in a few minutes later with a basket in her teeth. Antonio sees a decorated shoe box, a stack of index cards and some pens inside it. He takes the basket from the puppy and sets it on the coffee table.

"Honey, what is this stuff for exactly?" Antonio asks.

"It's for the messages for the baby game. The adult guests get to write down a special note to Anastasia. For instance, they could write why they love her so much or what their hopes and dreams for her are. After the party, we put the box in a safe place until Anastasia is old enough to read them then we take it down to let her read what everyone wrote." Tracy says

He loved the idea. He takes everything out of the basket, walks over to the present table and set the items down on it. The door bell rings a few seconds later. Tracy gets up from the couch. She walks over to her husband, and Luna follows close behind her. They go to answer the door. Antonio opens the door and sees Tracy's family, Tracy's Aunt and Uncle and cousin from Mexico, Antonio's parents, Ji, and their fellow samurai rangers.

"Thanks for coming guys," Antonio says.

"We wouldn't dream of missing our granddaughter's first birthday." Ballade says.

"Yeah, I wouldn't miss my niece's first birthday either." Chris says.

Antonio invites everyone inside. They set gifts on the table. Tracy noticed a few of them were huge. Tracy explains the game that used the shoe box on the table. The adults wrote the messages down for Anastasia and put them in the box. When everyone finished, Tracy hands Anastasia to her mom. She takes the box and puts it in the hall closet. She walks back to the living room.

"Sissy, can we hit the piñata now?" Amelia asks.

"The four of you can take turns whacking at it after dinner, I promise." Tracy answers.

"What's for dinner?" Chris asks.

"That's an excellent question, bro." Tracy answers.

"Wait you're telling me that you remembered everything for that party except for dinner," Chris says.

"Hey, this is my first kid. I think I'm allowed to forget one thing, this is her first birthday after all." Tracy jokes.

"Relax, sweetie, I'll fix it. I'll just call California Pizza Kitchen." Fiacre says.

"I don't know dad that might be expensive for this many people." Tracy says.

"Tracy, honey, it's Anastasia's special day." Fiacre says.

"I want the Mac 'n' cheese," Angela says.

"I want the Fusilli with Tomato Sauce," Amelia says.

"I want the pepperoni pizza," Aaron says.

"What would everyone else like?" Fiacre asks.

"Blanco Flatbread pizza," Tracy says.

"Caramelized peach salad," Kevin says.

"Cedar Planked Salmon," Antonio says.

"I'm okay with sharing a large pepperoni pizza." Lauren says.

"I know we have drinks here, but I was in the mood to try their new fresh agave lime margarita," Tracy says.

"Got it," Fiacre says.

He calls the restaurant. Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rings again. Antonio and Fiacre go to answer it. Antonio opens it.

"Hello that will be $45.99," the boy says.

Antonio gives him a fifty and tells the boy to keep the change. The boys hands them the food, he thanks Fiacre for the tip and leaves. They walk to the kitchen and set everything on the table.

The group enters the room. Everyone except Ballade takes their food and sits down at the table. She puts Anastasia in her high chair. She helps Anastasia put on her birthday hat. She gets her slice of pizza and sits down. After everyone is finished eating, they throw away their trash and head back out to the living room.

"Pinata time," Amelia says.

"Yup," Tracy says.

She goes to get the stick and a blindfold (it's one of Antonio's scarves fold into a triangle.) Antonio gets the boom box out to play the piñata song. Tracy hands her little sister the stick, she places the blindfold over her eyes, ties it in a bow and spins her around three times. She guides her over to the piñata. She nods to Antonio, and he presses play.

When the song ends, Amelia lifts up the blindfold and sees a small crack in the piñata. She is sad that she did break it open. She walks back over to Tracy and hands everything back to her. Aaron is the next on to try to hit it. When his turn ends the crack is a bit bigger but it still in one piece. Angela tries and gets the same result as her brother. Alejandro is the last one to try. When he hits it for the seconds time, he could hear the sound of the piñata ripping open and the candy falling out. After the kids collected all the candy. It was time for baby bottle blowing. The walk out to the hallway.

"Why are there twp tape letter X's on the floor?' Chris asks.

"The one that is closer it for the kids to stand behind and the other one is for the rest of us." Tracy says.

Tracy hands Alejandro the ball first. He lines up with the pins and rolls the ball; it hits the 'pins' all ten hit the floor.

"Strike," Anastasia says.

"That's right, sweetie, you're cousin knocked all the pins down," Tracy says.

After ten minutes, everyone is getting tired of playing, so they clean up the game. They head back into the living to play baby profession. Antonio goes over to the blanket where they several different items under it. They are a stuffed fish, stuffed cat, a stethoscope, a nurses' hat, a pencil, a tambourine and CD player. Tracy sets Anastasia on the floor after Antonio pulls the blanket off the items. Anastasia walks over to them. She picks up the stethoscope and the stuffed cat.

"Well, honey, it looks like out little girl can't decide whether she wants to be a veterinarian or a doctor." Tracy says.

"Sissy, is it time for cake and presents, yet?" Amelia asks.

"Yes, hermanita, it's time for cake and presents," Tracy says.

They head back into the kitchen for the cake. Tracy puts Anastasia back in her high chair. Antonio walks in with the cake, and the group sings happy birthday. Tracy lets Alejandro blow out the candle. She cuts the birthday girl her piece of cake. Antonio sets it in front of her. Tracy gets a picture if Anastasia right after she smashed the cake in her face.

"Well, she is keeping with family tradition, sweetie." Ballade says.

"What does mom mean, sissy." Amelia says.

"Well, hermanita, in our family we like to have a picture of all the kids with cake smashed all over their face." Tracy says.

She hands the cake out to the others. After everyone has enough cake, Tracy cleans up Anastasia. The group heads back to the living room to open the gifts. Tracy sits down on the couch. Antonio hands her the first gift. Anastasia rips off the card. Tracy opens it and takes out the card.

"This one is from Grandpa Fiacre, Grandma Ballade, Aunt Angela and Amelia, and Uncle Aaron"

Tracy sets the card down on the floor. She unwraps the gift and reveals a fisher price baby gymtastics bounce spin zebra. Anastasia claps happily. Tracy sets the gift aside. Antonio hands her the next gift. It was from Antonio's parents. They gave Anastasia the LeapFrog Learn &amp; Groove Animal Sounds Guitar. Anastasia claps happily again.

"Anastasia, can you say, gracias?" Tracy says.

"Gracias," Anastasia says.

Everyone says aw and Tracy opens the next few gifts from Chris and Lauren, Kevin and Mia, Emily and Mike and Jayden and Ashley. Chris and Lauren gave her Haba Fantasy Blocks, Kevin and Mia gave her PlaySkool Explore N Grow Busy Ball Popper, Emily and Mike gave her a and Jayden and Ashley gave her an OBall. The party ends and hour later. Everyone heads to the front door.

"Thanks again for coming everyone," Tracy says.

"You're welcome," Ballade says.

"It was a great party," Mike says.

After everyone drives away Tracy puts Anastasia to bed while Antonio cleans up the party. They meet up in the kitchen. They sit down at the table wore out form the party.

"I hope that her second birthday won't be as tiring as her first," Tracy says.

"I was thinking the same thing, my little angelfish." Antonio says.


	9. First Halloween

Tracy and Ashley are setting up the Halloween party at the Shiba house. They hang the 'Happy Halloween' banner over the front door. Afterward, they set up the tables for the guests who are the other rangers and Tracy's family. Once they set up the chairs they head back inside. They sit down in the kitchen.

"Thanks again for agreeing to have the party here," Tracy says.

"You're welcome, considering that your apartment isn't big enough," Ashley says.

"Have you picked out a costume for the party yet?" Tracy asks.

"Yes, I was thinking about going as an owl. Jayden is a lion. What about you, Antonio and Anastasia?" Ashley answers.

"I was thinking about being an angel fish or in my ranger suit. Antonio said that he was going as lobster. Anastasia's costume is a surprise." Tracy says.

The women hear the sound of Luna's claws clicking when they touch the floor. They turn around and see Chris and Lauren walk in with the puppy. Luna is wearing a hot dog costume. Chris is holding back a snicker watching his sister starting to get super mad.

"Chris, bro, please take that costume off my dog now. I don't want to yell because Anastasia is taking her nap right now." Tracy says.

"Come on sis, it's funny and she looks really cute," Chris says.

Tracy gives him a stern look. Chris sighs in defeat and takes the costume off the puppy. He sets it on the table. They sit down as well. The best friends turn around in their chairs. They continue to talk about the party. Ten minutes later they hear the doorbell ring, so Tracy leaves to go answer it. She walks down the hallway and gets halfway down when she hears, "Mommy,"

"I'm coming, sweetie," Tracy says.

Tracy makes a left turn and goes to Anastasia's room. She walks inside to see her one-year-old daughter standing up in her crib. She goes over to her and picks her up. Tracy turns around, leaves the room and continues her walk to the front door. She opens it and sees her family.

"Hi, mom," Tracy says.

"Hey sweetie," Ballade says.

"Sissy, can you help me and Amelia and Antonio with our costumes?" Angela asks.

"Of course, little sis, what are you three going as anyway?" Tracy answers.

Amelia and Antonio James run up wearing their costumes. Amelia is a mini red ranger and Antonio James is a mini gold ranger, Tracy chuckles softly seeing her young siblings.

"What's wrong with them they look great," Tracy says.

"Mom won't let us wear the masks," Amelia says.

"Those masks are hard to see through, but I have an idea about how to fix that," Tracy says.

"What about the morphers and swords?" Antonio James asks.

"How about we head inside, so I can help you with your costumes," Tracy says.

Tracy's parents nod. They walk in the house and go to the kitchen. Tracy winks at the triplets before they get to the doorway. Chris gets up from his chair. The triplets run in the room and tackle their older brother to the floor. The others walk in the room. Chris looks over at Tracy to see her holding back a snicker.

"Sis, you planned this didn't you?" Chris asks.

"No, I call it payback for putting Luna in that costume after I said not too," Tracy says.

"Look I'm sorry for not listening to you. Can you help me get our siblings off me?" Chris asks.

Tracy nods. She hands Anastasia to Ballade. She pulls the girls from him. Antonio James gets off his brother. Then she helps Chris to his feet.

"Tracy can you help us with our costumes now?" Amelia asks.

"Sure little sis," Tracy answers.

Amelia and Antonio James sit down at the table. Tracy leaves for a minute and comes back with some face paint and some Halloween makeup. She does Amelia's face first.

"I need you to close your eyes and don't open them till I say so, okay?" Tracy says.

"Okay sissy," Amelia says.

Amelia closes her eyes and Tracy starts out by painting her little sis face red. Then she paints the fire symbol. She sets the paint brush down and picks up the mirror.

"Okay, little sis, you can open your eyes now," Tracy says.

Amelia opens her eye. A huge smile appears on her face as she sees her reflection in the mirror. She sets the mirror back down on the table.

"Awesome, I really look like the red ranger, now. Thank you, sissy," Amelia says.

"You're welcome little sis," Tracy says.

"Me next, me next," Antonio James says excitedly.

"You got it little bro," Tracy says.

Amelia hops down off the chair. Antonio James climbs up and sits down quickly. He closes his eyes. Tracy chuckles and starts to paint his face. She finished it five minutes later. Antonio James hops down and they mini samurai rangers area about to start to run around the house.

"Don't you two think you need a few more things to make your costumes complete," Tracy says.

"Yeah, can I have a spin sword?" Amelia asks.

"No way sweetheart, they're too dangerous for you to carry around," Ballade says.

"I afraid mom is right, little sis, they are really sharp not to mention really heavy," Tracy says.

"Can we carry around the morpher, please?" Antonio James asks.

Tracy nods. Lauren leaves and comes back with their morphers. She hands them to Amelia and Antonio James. Tracy looks over at Angela.

"What's wrong, Angela?" Tracy asks.

"I wanted to be the silver ranger for Halloween, but we can't find the costume," Angela answers.

"Maybe I can help with that," Tracy says.

"How," Angela asks.

Lauren hands Tracy her old morpher. She bends down next to her little sis. She opens the morpher. Angela places her hand on top of Tracy's.

"Sissy, can I say it?" Angela asks.

"Sure hermanita," Tracy says.

"Go, Go, Samurai," Angela says.

Tracy flips her wrist to activate the symbol. They see Tracy and Angela standing in a silver ranger suit. Angela's suit didn't have the spin sword or the helmet. Tracy hands her little sister the samuraizer. Angela puts it in the holder on her belt. Tracy takes the spin sword off her belt and puts it up where the triplets can't reach. Tracy gets to her feet.

"Thank you, sissy, you're the best," Angela says.

"You're welcome hermanita," Tracy says

"Sissy, can you paint my face too," Amelia says.

Tracy nods. Five minutes later she finished painting Amelia's face. Amelia hops down from the chair. Tracy sees her younger siblings dressed as mini samurai ranger makes her smile. An hour later the party starts. Tracy is an angel fish, Mike is a honey pot, Kevin is a swimmer, Emily is fairy, Mia is a turtle, Lauren is an angel and Chris is a cave man. Tracy's parents are a doctor and nurse.

"Tracy, where is Anastasia?" Lauren asks.

"I almost forgot, Ana, come on out sweetie." Tracy says

Anastasia runs in with a big smile on her face, "I'm a dolphin". The room fills with "Aw" and chuckles seeing the one-year-old in her costume. Tracy bends down to pick her up; everyone turns around to face Jayden and Ashley.

"Jayden and I have a big announcement," Ashley says.

"What is it?" Lauren asks.

"Well Lauren, let's just say my last name will become Shiba one day," Ashley says

"What does Ashley mean, mom?" Amelia asks.

"Ashley, are you saying that Jayden purposed to you?" Ballade asks.

Ashley answers her question by showing everyone the engagement ring on her left hand. The women in the room try to contain their shrieks of happiness. The men congratulate Jayden on the engagement,

"Can we get to the party; I want to go trick or treating later." Antonio James says.

"Sure, buddy," Tracy says.

The party ends at 5 o'clock so they head out in the neighborhood close to the house to do some trick or treating. Tracy and the other mini samurai rangers walk up to the first house. Amelia rings the doorbell. The door open and they see a woman dressed up like a witch.

"Trick or Treat," Anastasia says.

"Aw, that is so cute," The woman says.

She drops some candy into the bag Tracy is carrying for her daughter. The triplets get a big handful of candy dropped into their bags.

"Thank you," The triplets say.

"You're welcome kids," The woman says.

The other houses go the same way; the triplets let Anastasia say Trick or treat because they get a bunch of candy thanks to her cuteness. They head back the Shiba house, so the adult can go through the candy. The triplets hand their candy to their parent. Tracy and her parents dump all the candy out on the kitchen table. There was so much candy some falls onto the floor. They group gets to short it into piles. One for Airhead bars, one for sour patch kids, another for sweetish fish, etc. Ten minutes later they finish sorting all the candy the biggest piles is Nerds, the next one is Sour patch kids, the last one 3 Musketeers bars. Then they share the candy evenly between the triplets and Anastasia.

"This was the best Halloween ever," Angela says.

"Okay you three, I think it's time to wash that make up off your faces," Ballade says.

"Okay, mom," The triplets say.

The triplets hug the big sister and leave the kitchen with Ballade. Tracy and Antonio leave to put Anastasia to bed. The Garcia's walk to Anastasia's room and take the dolphin costume off of her. Give her a fresh dipper and put on her pajamas. Tracy lays her down in the crib and she falls asleep a few seconds later.

"It looks like she had a good time," Tracy whispers.

"She sure did, I guess you could say Anastasia's first Halloween was a success," Antonio whispers.


	10. First Ranger Reunion Part 1

Three years later the rangers decided that it was time to schedule a reunion to catch up. They also so thought it would be nice for the kids to meet each other too. Tracy and Antonio pull in the driveway. Tracy looks in the rear view mirror and sees her four-year-old daughter Anastasia and her three-year-old son Anthony. Anastasia has a sad look on her face.

"What's wrong sweetie," Tracy asks.

"I thought we would go to the reunion without Anthony," Anastasia says.

"Sorry, sweetie, your brother is a member of the family too," Tracy says.

Everyone gets out of the car. They walk the house the front door. They turn around when they hear a few other cars pulls in. A few seconds later their fellow rangers and their children get out. Emily and Mike have a three-year-old son Mason. Kevin and Mia have four-year-old twins, Jake, and Madison. They rangers walk up to each other and introduce their kids to each other. The group turns back around the see Ashley and Jayden with their four-year-old daughter Jade and two-year-old son Ashton. Meanwhile in the future, Broodwing in a lab taking with Professor Cerebros about his plan to bring a new set of rangers in to help him destroy the S.P.D. rangers.

"Broodwing, we can't let Grumm find out that I'm working for you," Professor Cerebros says,

"He won't," Broodwing says, handing him a huge wad of cash.

"Let's get started, do you bring them?" Professor Cerebros asks.

Broodwing nods. He opens the case in his hand revealing the set of Samuraizers. Back with the Samurai rangers, they are walking down the hallway. There was a flash of light and everyone found themselves in a warehouse with Broodwing.

"Mommy, why does that bat have punch bowl on its head?" Anastasia asks.

"I don't know, sweetie," Tracy asks.

"Dad, where are we?" Jade asks.

"I don't know," Jayden answers.

"Welcome to the future, now you will help me destroy the planet," Broodwing says.

"I don't think so," Mike says.

Tracy kicks Broodwing in the stomach. The kids turn around and pick up their parents morphers. They run out of the room. Meanwhile at the base, Kat's tracking system picks up the samurai rangers' energy.

"This is strange, I'm picking up a ranger energy reading. I'm picking up an intense surge in the morphing grid." Kat says.

"I didn't deploy the rangers; They are still in the base," Cruger says.

"What's new commander," Jack says, as he and the rest of the walk in.

"Kat, try to narrow in on the energy reading," Cruger says.

"I'm on it," Kat says.

"What kind of energy reading did she find, sir?" Sky asks.

"It's a ranger energy reading, it's coming from downtown," Kat says.

Back downtown the rangers are getting chased by krybots. Everyone quickly walks down a flight of stairs; the group gets trapped in a corner.

"Mommy, I'm scared," Madison says.

"Don't worry sweetie, we'll protect you, just stay here, okay." Mia says.

"Does anyone want to take a guess on what these things are?" Ashley asks.

"They're not moogers, that's for sure," Mike says.

"Yeah, these things make them look sweet," Tracy says.

"Should we try to use our symbol power?" Emily asks.

"It's worth a try, Em." Jayden says.

The kids give the morphers to their parents and draw a few different symbols. They only symbol that did effect the robots was Mike's. Antonio walks over to one of the legs of the robot that Emily destroyed.

"Guys, they're robots, " Antonio says.

Tracy sees her husband starting to geek out over the high tech appearance of the circuitry inside it. She slaps him in the gut to bring him back to reality. A few seconds later a laser blasts hit them and the group flies backward. The kids scream seeing their parents land on the ground. They get to their feet to see Broodwing walking up to them.

"Fools, did you think that you could get away from me that easily," Broodwing says.

"Who are you? What do you want with us?" Mia asks.

"I want you to fight alongside me and help me take down this horrid plant," Broodwing says.

"I think you need to change the water in that tank of yours," Tracy says.

"Yeah, a samurai fights to protect people, not destroy them," Ashley says.

"Oh, I think you'll come around to my way of thinking, with a little bit of persuasion." Broodwing says.

Everyone hears the sound of a siren blaring as the S.P.D. rangers drive up. They watch them take down the other Krybots that Broodwing has with him.

"Wow, those guys are really cool," Ashton says.

"Daddy is cooler," Anthony says.

The S.P.D rangers regroup in front of Broodwing.

"Leave these people alone Broodwing," Jack says.

"S.P.D, I wish you would leave me alone," Broodwing says.

Broodwing screeches loudly as he flies away. The kids run up to their parent. They parents pick up their children. The S.P.D. rangers run up to them.

"Are you guys, okay?" Z asks.

"I think so, other than being a little confused," Antonio says.

"Broodwing attacking innocent civilians, that's low. Even for him," Sky says.

"You fought that guy before?" Mike asks.

"Yes, we're the power rangers, Space Patrol Delta," Jack says showing everyone his morpher.

"Mommy, they can't be the power rangers," Jade says.

"Why not, little girl," Z asks.

"Because mommy and daddy and their friends are," Jade says.

"That's right, sweetie," Ashley says.

The S.P.D rangers take the Samurai rangers back to their base.

"Anthony, I want you to walk while we are in the building," Tracy says.

The kids walk around holding their parent's hand. Anthony lets go of his mom's hand and starts to run down the hallway.

"Anthony, come back her right now," Tracy shouts.

"No," Anthony says.

"Anthony, if you don't stop running and come back here. I'll have to put you in time out." Tracy says firmly.

Anthony didn't listen to his mom. He continues to run down the hallway. Tracy leaves the group to go case after her son. She catches him. He starts to have a temper tantrum. She puts him down in front of her. She gets down to his level.

"Anthony, look at me," Tracy says.

He didn't turn around. Tracy remains calm as she picks him back up. They walk into the command center, Cruger sees the upset three-year-old in Tracy's arm. Everyone sees Tracy put Anthony down in Cruger's chair. Tracy tries again to get him to look at her.

"Anthony, you're going to sit here in the naughty chair for three minutes," Tracy says.

"No, I'm not," Anthony says.

Tracy didn't say a word. She walks away. a few seconds later, he gets up from the chair. He walks over to his dad. Antonio picks him up and puts him back in the chair. HE goes back over to the group.

"I'm sorry about this. Anthony is normally very well behaved." Tracy says.

"It's okay, how old is your son?" Sky asks.

"He's three," Tracy says.

Three minutes later, Tracy walks back over to the chair. She gets down to her son's level again.

I put you in the naughty chair because I told you not to run in the building. You didn't listen to me. Can you say that you're sorry," Tracy says.

"I'm sorry, mommy," Anthony says.

"Can I get a hug?" Tracy asks.

Anthony nods. He gives her a big hug. After he lets his mom go, and they walk over to the others.

"Why is the big blue dog here," Anthony asks.

"I'm the commander, Anubis Cruger, what's your name?" Cruger says.

"Anthony, who is the pretty lady next to you?" Anthony asks.

"Well, someone is a little flirt, huh?" Z asks.

"Yes, Antony is like his father alright." Tracy says.

"Well, Anthony, that lady, is our lovely technical expert Dr. Kat Manx." Jack says.

"Welcome to Our base, samurai rangers," Cruger says.

The rest of the kids eyes widen in shock seeing the aliens waking around the room.

"Aliens and humans live together here," Kat says.

"Why is the bat after my mom and dad," Anastasia says.

"Well sweetie, our video record shows us that your mom and dad fought against some of the most dangerous villains ever." Kat says.

Everyone turns to their left and see the of videos of all the battles they fought.

"Aww, memories," Antonio says.

"Good times," Ashley says.

"Speak for yourself Ashley; I broke my knee fighting one of the monsters." Tracy says.

"That was a long time ago." Jack says.

"How did you even get here?" Sky asks.

"Well, things are a bit fuzzy," Tracy says.

"Mommy, we're at the Shiba house for the reunion, remember?" Anastasia says.

"I'm positive that Broodwing paid someone a lot of money to bring you here." Cruger says.

"Yes, he won't give up so easily," Kat adds.

"Daddy, you always said that a samurai never runs from a battle," Jade says.

"Yes I did, she's right; we can't let Broodwing push us around." Jayden says.

"We're supposed to stand by our allies too, right daddy?" Jake asks.

"Yes, son," Kevin says.

"Daddy, you said that a true samurai helps out whenever someone is trouble too," Anastasia says.

"That's right, sweetie," Antonio says.

"You haven't met Grumm." Z says.

"He can't be a bad as Master Xandred." Ashley says.

"Yeah, bring it on." Mike says.

The alarm goes off a few seconds later; it causes the kids to jump. they quickly cover their ears too.

"And I thought the gap sensor was bad," Tracy says.

"The quarry is under attack." Kat says.

"My hunch is that Broodwing is trying to draw you out." Cruger says.

"That may be true, but we're going with you," Jayden says.

"Please, be careful, daddy," Jade says.

"I will sweetheart, " Jayden says.

"Jayden, we know our symbol power works, do you think that we can still morph?" Tracy asks.

"There is one way to find out," Jayden says.

The samurai rangers take out their morpher. They draw their symbols and active them. They remain in civilian from.

"This stinks," Tracy says.

"I think I can help, Give me your morphers." Kat says.

The Samurai rangers hand her their samuraizers. A few seconds later the morphers glow their ranger color. Kat hands them back to the team. The Samurai rangers morph again. They head out to fight the monster. The Samurai ranger liked riding in the S.W.A.T truck. When they arrive at the quarry the Samurai ranger leap out and stand in front of the Dragoul. The S.P.D. rangers flip out of the truck and land scaffolding. They morph into S.W.A.T and descend down blasting the Dragoul with their delta enforcers. They meet up with the Samurai rangers.

"What's that really necessary," Ashley asks.

"Yes," Jack says.

"Ashley, we can vent about the way of entering a battle scene later, for now let's just focus on fighting this thing together." Tracy says.

"Good idea," Jayden says.

The rangers charge in towards the monster split up into four teams, the red rangers and blue rangers are one team, Green and yellow are another, the pink rangers team up, Tracy, Antonio, and Ashley are the last team. They are doing great until Grumm and Morgana show up. Back at the base the kids are watching the battle on the monitors with Cruger and Kat. They also see a giant monster appear downtown.

"I wish our parent could form their megazord." Jade says.

"Me too," Jake says.

"I think mom and dad need more help," Anastasia adds.

"Don't worry kids they will, I'm dispatching Omega ranger to fight the giant monster." Kat says.

"I'll go help the other rangers." Cruger says.

The kids are amazed when they see Cruger morph into the shadow ranger. Back at the fight the rangers are having trouble even with their combined power. They got blasted by Grumm and fly backward. The team lands demorphed. Cruger gets to the scene just as the rangers got to their feet.

"I can't believe that I'm saying this, but Master Xandred is weak compared to Grumm, maybe we should just quit" Mike says.

"Mike, we can't quit, now remember, our kids are watching this back at the base. Do you really want to teach them that when things get tuff you just give up?" Tracy says.

"No," Mike says.

"We just need a different strategy that's all," Tracy says.

"Like what, Tracy?" Jack asks.

"What if we change the battlefield a bit?" Tracy answers.

"What do you mean," Bridge asks.

"Kevin, you and I will be standing over there on that cliff while the others stay down here and fight. On my signal everyone will leap to higher ground," Tracy says.

"Then what," Bridge asks,

"Just trust me ok," Tracy says.

The rangers morph again, Kevin and Tracy got to their spot on the cliff. The rangers continue to fight Grumm and the army of krybots below. Tracy waits till Grumm and his army is in the correct spot. Tracy lets out her signature bird whistle. The rangers jump high into the air. Kevin draws his tidal wave symbol and Tracy draws her blizzard symbol. They activate them and the quarry turns into an ice rink several of the krybots are stuck below the ice. A few of them including Grumm and Morgana dodge the attack. The rangers regroup in front of Grumm.

"That's was pretty cool," Bridge says.

"Thanks," Tracy says.

"Yes, it was, cadets, Omega ranger needs your help." Cruger says.

"Yeah, we can handle it from here," Jayden says.

"Let's go 'B' squad," Jack says.

The Samurai rangers continue to fight the robots that are left and destroy them. Cruger fights Grumm he does a downward to drive him back. The Samurai rangers run over to him.

"Cruger, using rangers from the past may have one this battle, but the war isn't over," Grumm says.

Jayden turns his fire smasher into the cannon. Antonio's octo disk was attached to the side and the others rangers loaded their disks.

"Five disk octocannon ready," Antonio says.

"Do it, "Cruger says

Antonio fires the cannon. The blast hit Grumm, but he survives. There is a puff of smoke, and Grumm was gone.

"Yes, we sent him running. Gather round rangers," Cruger says.

"That was off the chain," Mike says.

"Jayden, Jack, Emily, Z, Kevin, Sky, Mia, Syd, Mike, Bridge, Tracy, Sam, Ashley, and Antonio, that was amazing teamwork," Cruger says.

Jayden and Jack shake hands. Everyone heads back to the base. When they enter the room the samurai rangers were tackled by their kids.

"Mom, that so cool," Jade says.

"Yeah, dad, do you think I can be a ranger someday?" Madison asks.

"Maybe," Kevin answers.

The rangers stand in front of Cruger.

"I still think that we should stay," Mike says.

"Yeah, the evil bat is still out there too," Anastasia says.

"She is right, and we do work really well too," Jayden says.

"We appreciate your offer to stay rangers," Kat says.

"but it wouldn't be a good idea," Cruger says.

"Why?" Jade asks.

"Well, Jade, if you and your family don't go back. Your mommy won't become a huge star on Broadway." Syd says.

"I'm going to a huge Broadway star, sweet." Ashley says.

""What about our family," Jake asks.

"Mia will become a great chief and open up her own restaurant and Kevin will become a six-time gold medal swimmer for the USA Olympic swim team." Kat says.

"That is so cool," Jake says.

"Tracy, if you don't go back, you won't become one of the best veterinarians in the country." Z says.

"That is so amazing," Tracy says.

"Plus, everyone knows about the Mike Richardson Dance School, they're all over the country."Sky says.

"Really, wow," Mike says.

"Your lives as rangers have made a difference. The truth is that you all have gone on to lead very exciting and significant lives. Only, if you choose to hang up your helmets." Cruger says.

"Mom," Anastasia says.

"What is it, sweetie?" Tracy asks.

"Can Anthony stay here?" Anastasia asks.

"No, sweetie, he can't," Tracy answers.

"Aw, nuts," Anastasia says.

"Who taught you to say that?" Tracy says.

"Uncle Chris," Anastasia says.

"When we get back I'm going to talk to him about that." Tracy says.

"I think we're ready to go back commander," Jayden says.

"Your courage and dedication will live on in ranger legend, thank you all." Cruger says.

Eight test tubes appears from the middle part of the table. Each tube is marked with the rangers' power symbol.

"Goodbye, Samurai rangers, your memory of us will be erased. Thank you, for everything." Kat says.

There was another flash of light and the rangers were back in the Shiba house. They walk to the living room. Tracy sees Alejandro running up to her. He tackles his cousin to the ground.

"Wow, buddy you've gotten really strong." Tracy says.

"I know," Alejandro says.

"Alright, Alejandro let your cousin up now." Elaine says.

"Alejandro, you better listen to your mom." Tracy says.

"Why?" He asks.

"If you don't you might get a visit from the tickle monster." Tracy answers.

Tracy starts to make a claw with her left hand. Alejandro backs away and goes over to Elaine and José. Anthony lets go of Antonio's hand. Antonio walks up and helps his wife to her feet. She kisses him on the cheek. Tracy looks back at her cousin.

"Gross," Alejandro exclaims.

"You stop that believe me buddy someday a girl will make you act all funny." Tracy says.

"No way girls will always have cooties." Alejandro says.

"Trust me Alejandro in about four years or so you won't be saying that anymore." Elaine says.

"Tracy, I thought your cousin's name was Alexander so why do you call him Alejandro?" Mike asks.

"He just likes being called Alejandro instead of Alexander that's all." Tracy answers.

"Alejandro, how is school going this year?" Kevin asks.

"Great, I won the all-school spelling bee." Alejandro answers.

Tracy walks over to him and starts to ruffle his hair.

"Good job Alejandro how did you get so smart?" She asks.

"Because I had a really smart cousin helping me studies." Alejandro answers.

Lauren, Mia, Emily, and Aunt Elaine say "aw". Tracy stops ruffling his hair and bends down to give him a kiss on the cheek Alejandro quickly wipes the kiss off.

"If you keep that up I'll just kiss you again." Tracy says.

"I know," Alejandro says.

Tracy gets to her feet and walks over to Antonio. She looks over at Alejandro and notices that he looks tired.

"It looks like someone stayed up late right Alejandro. Maybe you need to take a short nap." Tracy says.

"But I'm not tired." Alejandro says in a cranky tone.

"Your cousin is right, son; I think a short nap might be a good idea. Come on buddy let's go." José says

He leads Alejandro out of the room. A few seconds later Anthony yawns.

"I think that someone else could use a nap too. Tracy, I can take him if you like." Elaine says.

"That would be great, Anastasia it's time for your nap too." Tracy says.

Anastasia sighs sadly. Elaine walks over to Anthony. She picks him up. They leave the room. Luna follows them. After they are completely out of the room, they sit down on the couch.

"Tracy, have you gotten word back from veterinary school yet?" Mia asks.

"Nothing yet and it's driving me crazy." Tracy answers.

"When did you apply?" Kevin asks.

"Last month," Tracy answers.

"They probably get a lot of applications in a short period of time. I'm pretty sure that you'll get accepted." Emily says.

"Thanks, Em," Tracy says.

"Yes, Sabrina, Emily is right and the people in charge of the admissions office would we crazy if they don't accept you." Aunt Elaine says, walking back in the room.

"Thanks, Aunt Elaine," Tracy says.

We continue to catch up for the next fifteen minutes. Everyone hears the sound of little feet clomping on the wood floors ten minutes later.

"Sounds like the herd is awake," Tracy says.

Anastasia, Jake, and Carson dash into the room. Tracy gets up and walks over to them. Anastasia leaps into her mom's arms. Tracy catches her daughter in midair.

"Mommy, that was fun, can we do it again." Anastasia says.

"Maybe later sweetie," Tracy says.

She walks back over to her friends carrying Anastasia. Jake and Carson follow her.

"Can we go to the park?" Jake asks.

"I don't know Jake dinner is in three hours." Kevin says.

"Mom, can we go outside to play with Luna?" Jade asks.

"That sounds like a good idea, sweetie," Ashley says.

"Yes, and dinner is going to be really special." Tracy says.

"Can't you tell me, please?" Anastasia says.

"Sorry angel it wouldn't be a surprise if mommy told you what it was." Antonio says.

Anastasia looks to her left and sees her uncle walk up. Anastasia leaps out of her mother's arms. She seems to float in the air before her uncle catches her in his arms in midair.

"Wow, Tracy, your daughter is very adventurous." Kevin says.

"I know uncle José she gets that from her father." Tracy says.

"I'm pretty just like mommy." Anastasia says.

"Yes, you are, sweetie," José says.

"Uncle José, do you think that you and Aunt Elaine could watch the little one for a couple hours after dinner?" Tracy asks.

"Sure we would love to." He answers.

"Where are you going, mommy?" Anastasia asks.

"The grown up are going to catch up some more and do some other grown up stuff." Tracy answers.

"You'll be back to tuck me in right?" She asks.

"Don't worry sweetheart I will I promise." Tracy says.

Ten minutes later Alejandro comes in the room. Jake and Carson go and hide behind their mom.

"Alejandro, are you feeling better after your nap?" Antonio asks

"Yes," Alejandro answers.

"Who is that?" Jake asks.

"That's Alejandro he's Anastasia's cousin." Mia answers.

"Don't be scared boys he won't bite you." Tracy says.

"He's going to bite us." Jake says.

"No honey Tracy joking, he is really nice." Mia tells her son.

Alejandro goes over to Jake and Carson and introduces himself to them. All the kids and all the adults except for Tracy go outside. Tracy heads to the kitchen to start cooking dinner. Tracy is in the kitchen chopping vegetables. Luna is sitting next to her feet hoping to catch a few pieces if they should fall to the floor. She stops chopping and looks up to see Ji walk in. He stops and stands in the doorway.

"You know I could help you if you like." Ji says.

"No thank you, Ji, I'm okay," Tracy says.

"You're planning to check all the gaps after dinner aren't you?" he asks.

"Yes, I know that I shouldn't be worried about them considering how much symbol power I used to seal them but..." Tracy answers.

Ji walks over to Tracy and puts a hand on her shoulder. He says, "You just want to make sure that they haven't melted. You don't want to put Anastasia or any of the other little ones in danger."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're smart Ji?" Tracy asks.

"I tell myself that all the time." He says.

"Ji, do you think that I have been a good mother to Anastasia and Anthony?" Tracy asks.

"I would say that you're being a great mom." He answers.

"How do you figure that?" Tracy asks.

"Well, you've taught them how to be a considerate and caring person not to mention they treat everyone with respect. Anastasia is very adventitious as well." He answers.

"I'm pretty sure Antonio taught them most of those things while I'm at class." Tracy says.

"What is the real reason you wanted to go to college in the first place?" Ji asks.

"I was thinking that someday I would have a family and wanted to support it." Tracy answers.

"There you go and Antonio has supported you all the way hasn't he?" Ji asks.

"Of course he has, but I still wish that I could spend a little more time with them that's all." Tracy says.

"You've spent plenty of time with them my little angelfish." Antonio says as he walks in the room.

"I'll let you two talk," Ji says as he leaves the room.

Antonio walks over to his wife and pulls her into his chest. She asks.

"How do you figure that honey? I've spent plenty of time with the kids. I spend most of the day at college." Tracy says.

"You always make sure that you are home for dinner so we can have family time." Antonio says.

"True, but didn't you get a job at Fish Dish?" Tracy asks.

"I did, but I'm still not sure if I'm going to take it." He says.

"Why don't you want to accept it homey?" Tracy asks.

"For one the shift starts at 11 and ends five. Second if I do accept it how are we going to work everything around your college schedule and this?" He asks.

"We'll figure something out honey. We always do and besides we could use the extra money." Tracy says.

"I know sweetie," He says.

"My golden knight I love you, but I need to finish making dinner, so the little ones don't starve." Tracy says.

"You sure that you don't need any help?" He asks.

"Sure, can you finish making the salad?" Tracy says.

Antonio lets his wife go and she walks over to the stove to check on the fish frying in the pan. After Antonio washes his hand and finishes making the salad. He follows behind her leans in a little closer and gets a whiff of the fish cooking.

"You smell great I love that new perfume." He says.

"That's the fish," Tracy says swatting him in the arm with the dish rag.

"Are you using my recipe honey?" He asks.

"Not today my golden knight I'm using uncle José's." Tracy answers.

"I can't wait to see how it tastes." He says.

Antonio goes to the silverware door and takes out a fork. He walks over and tries to break off a piece of the fish to taste it. Tracy slaps her husband's hand hard with the spatula and the fork falls to the floor.

"What was that for?" He snaps.

"Sorry honey, you have to wait like everyone else." Tracy says.

Tracy turns the fish over in the pan with the spare spatula on the counter. Antonio picks up the fork and puts it in the sink. Then he gets to work finishing the salad. Ten minutes later the fish was done. Tracy turns off the heat and puts the lid on the pan to let the fish steam. Tracy goes over to the cabinet and takes out the plates. She sets them on the counter and gets the cups down. She closes the cabinet and walks over to the table with everything in her hands.

Antonio turns around after setting the salad on the table and walks over to his wife. He takes the plates out of her hands.

"Thank you honey." Tracy says.

"You're welcome," he says.

They go over to the table to set it for dinner. After the table is set Tracy asks her husband to go get everyone while she puts the food on the plates. He nods and leaves the room. A few minutes later everyone comes into the room and sits down. Everyone thanks Tracy for preparing dinner and start to eat.

"Hey, you used my recipe didn't you?" José asks as he recognizes the flavor.

"Guilty as charge uncle José, I hope that it tastes as good as when you do it." Tracy says.

"You did great honey but did you add little something else?" He asks.

"Yeah, I added a dash of tarragon." Tracy answers.

"Well, it makes it taste even better." He says.

"Thanks, uncle José," Tracy says.

Fifteen minutes later everyone had clean off their plates even the kids.

"Mommy, did you make dessert?" Anastasia asks.

"I did sweetie, but I don't know if everyone else would like some." Tracy answers.

"Can we have dessert please daddy?" Jake asks.

"I guess a little dessert would be okay" Kevin answers.

"What did you make anyway?" Jayden asks.

"Strawberry shortcake," Tracy answers.

Tracy hears the kids cheer loudly and it makes her smile. She goes get dessert and passes it out to everyone. After everyone finished dessert she starts to clear the table but Antonio stops her.

"Honey, you've done enough I'll do the dishes." Antonio says.

"What did I do to get such a thoughtful husband?" Tracy asks.

Tracy kisses him on the cheek. She hears the sounds of disgust coming from the table and looks back towards it to see Jake, Carson, and Alejandro all have a look of pure disgust on their faces. She just shakes her head and heads out to the living room. After Antonio finishes the dishes he comes into the room. José is carrying Anastasia in his arms. Tracy walks over to her and kisses her on the cheek.

"You be a good girl for your uncle ok sweetie." Tracy says.

"Don't worry mommy I will." Anastasia says.

"You be a good boy too, son," Antonio says.

"I will daddy," Anthony says.

"Jake and Carson, I want the two of you to behave too," Kevin tells his sons.

"We will daddy," They say together.

After everyone says goodbye to their children, they leave the house.

"Tracy, what is this grown up thing anyway?" Mike asks.

"We are going to check all the gaps in the city to make sure that they are still sealed." Tracy answers.


	11. First Ranger Reunion Part 2

**AN: There is a small sex scene in this chapter, so this chapter is rated M.**

* * *

The rangers are finishing up checking all the gaps in the city. They meet back up at the bakery.

"So, how did it go?" Tracy asks.

"Good," Mike answers.

"Yeah, all the gaps are still frozen solid," Kevin adds.

"So, do you feel better now my little angelfish?" Antonio asks his wife.

"Yes," Tracy answers.

"Why are you so worried anyway Trac it's not like there are anymore nighloks left in the netherworld?" Mike asks.

"You forgot about Octoroo," Tracy says.

"True, but Master X is gone so it's not like Octoroo is smart enough to figure out how to break through the ice," Mike says.

"Mike please stop you're going to jinx us again," Emily says.

She covers his mouth with her hand. A few seconds later everyone hears Tracy's phone ringing with the Michigan fight song mixed with a traditional song from Mexico ringtone.

"Interesting ring," Kevin says.

"I was home sick. I'll be right back," Tracy says.

She leaves the group to answer her phone.

"Hello," Tracy says.

"Hello I'm director Sammy Montanez; I'm calling for Pasadena veterinary school. Is this Tracy Garcia?" Sammy asks.

"Yes, it is," Tracy answers.

"I'm happy to say congratulations and welcome aboard," Sammy says.

"I got accepted?" Tracy asks.

"Yes, and I can't wait to see you on campus next month," Sammy says.

"Thank you so much for this opportunity," Tracy says.

"You're very welcome," Sammy says.

Tracy hangs up her phone and walks back over to the group.

"The veterinary school that just called you right," Antonio asks.

"Yes," Tracy says.

"What did they say?" Mike asks.

Tracy takes a deep breath before she answers.

"I'm in," She says.

Antonio picks his wife up and spins her around a couple of times before he sets her back down on the ground.

"Congratulations my little angelfish I knew that you would get in I'm so proud of you." He says.

After everyone congratulates her they head back home, they through the front gate ten minutes later. Anthony and Anastasia run up to their parents.

"Mom is home," Anastasia says.

"Daddy, too," Anthony says.

Tracy and Antonio bend down and pick their kids up. They walk into the house and sit down in the living room.

"I hope that the kids didn't tire you guys out," Tracy says.

"Not at all," Elaine says.

"Good I think it's for someone to go to bed," Tracy says.

Tracy watches Anastasia start to doze off in her arms. A few seconds later she falls asleep and Tracy kisses her on the forehead. Antonio takes their daughter out of Tracy's arms and carries her to room that all the kids are sharing. A few seconds later Tracy sees Jason and Carson fall asleep as well so they're parents take them to their bedroom.

Antonio walks into their bedroom. He sees his wife lying on the bed staring at the ceiling.

"Hey, my little angelfish what are doing?" Antonio asks.

"Just thinking about stuff," She answers.

Antonio's smiles and climbs on the bed. He gets on top of her so he can see her eyes. He can see a sad and worried look in her eyes.

"You're worried about how things will work when you start veterinary school aren't you?" Antonio asks.

Tracy nods. Antonio leans in, kisses her nose, and uses his right hand to fix her hair before he says anything.

"Remember what you told me earlier when I was debating whether to take that job?" He asks.

"That we would figure things out together. Like we always do," She answers.

"Right," He says.

"Dr. Garcia does have a nice ring to it. Don't you think?" She says.

Antonio nods. Then she wraps her arms around his neck and gently pulls him in towards her. They share a very passionate kiss. The kiss turns into making out. The next thing they knew they're naked. Antonio is lying on his back and Tracy is lying in his chest. He sees her right hand drifting down to his penis. He feels her slowly and gently run her fingertips down it when she reaches the bottom. She starts to massage my testicles the same way.

"Honey, what are doing?" He asks.

"I read about this on the internet. It's supposed to cause an erection. If you don't like it, my golden knight, I'll stop." Tracy answers.

She stops and takes her hand away.

"Please, don't stop sweetie, I like it." Antonio says.

Antonio sees her crack a smile and places her hand back in the same place. Then she restarts her massage. Tracy does it a few more times and each time she repeats it. Tracy can hear her husband moans of delight grow louder and louder. The last time she does it she feels it start to get larger and warmer in her hand. After she reaches the bottom and takes away her hand. She rolls onto her stomach and looks into his eyes.

Tracy is about to wrap her leg around his hip, but Antonio rolls over. She ends up on her back and he starts to kiss every crevice of her exposed body very passionately. Every time he backs away he keeps saying I love you. He stops when he reaches her breasts. He uses his erected penis to draw a heart around each one. At that moment Tracy thought her heart was going to leap out of her chest. He repeats it two more times before he lies down on top of her. They share another passionate kiss before she slowly let him inside her. After things calmed down they are lying in each others arms.

"So, honey was is another way of congratulating me on getting into vet school?" Tracy asks.

"No, but I'm really happy for you." Antonio answers.

"I know you are." She says.

They hear the sound of their daughter screaming.

"Whose turn it is to comfort our little girl?" Tracy asks.

"It's your turn sweetie," Antonio says.

Tracy chuckles as she gets out of his arms and puts on her robe. Then she leaves the room. Tracy walks into the kid's room. She sees her daughter sitting up in her bed, wrapped up in a blanket, and shaking like a leaf. She walks over to her, sits down next to her on the bed, and pulls her into a hug.

"Mommy, are there any monster going to attack me?" Anastasia asks.

"No, sweetie you were dreaming you're perfectly safe." Tracy says _reassuringly._

She rocks her back and forth to calm her down. After ten minutes Anastasia has fallen back to sleep in her mother's arms. Tracy lays her back down in the bed and kisses her on the forehead before she leaves the room. Luna gets up from her bad, She jumps on Anastasia's bed and crawls under the covers and cuddled up next to Anastasia. Tracy walks back into their bed room.

"So, did she have that nightmare again?" Antonio asks.

Tracy nods. She walks over to the bed and lies down in her husband's chest again.

"Antonio, I knew she should have waited a little longer until we told her about the battle against Master Xandred." Tracy says.

"Yeah, I take full responsibility for this honey. I knew I should have listened to you" Antonio says.

"Well you're forgiven my golden knight." Tracy says.

They fall asleep a minutes later, Tracy was still nervous about how things will be after she starts Vet school in a few months.


	12. First Trip to Rainbow's End with kids

Antonio wakes up the next morning to the bed shaking from his daughter and son jumping up and down on it. He gets out of bed and takes Anastasia off the bed. He carries Anthony to the kitchen. Anastasia holds her dad's hand as the walks down the hallway. Everyone is standing in the room. He sets Anthony down in his chair. Anastasia climbs on one of the chairs next to Jade and sits down.

"Well, we have 3/4 of the Garcia clan. Where is Tracy?" Mike asks.

"She's still asleep," Antonio answers.

He goes over to the cabinet and gets a bowl down. He fixes Anastasia her breakfast. He walks over to Anastasia and puts the bowl in front of her.

"Gracias daddy," Anastasia says.

"De nada, sweetie," Antonio says.

He does the same thing with Anthony's breakfast.

"Gracias," Anthony says.

"You're welcome, buddy," Antonio says.

"Wait; let me get this straight you taught your kids to speak Spanish," Mike says.

"Kind of Anastasia watches Dora the Explorer a lot. Anthony just repeats words after Anastasia says them." Antonio says.

Tracy walks in the room a few minutes later.

"Buenos días, mamá," Anastasia says.

"Good morning to you too, sweetie," Tracy says.

"Mommy, can we go to Rainbow's end?" Anastasia asks.

"I guess we could sweetie they did add-on a special addition for kids," Tracy answers.

"Can Anthony stay home?" Anastasia asks.

"No, honey, your brother is coming too," Antonio says.

Then Alejandro, Carson, and Jake run into the room.

"Alejandro, I thought your mom told you no running in the house." Tracy scolds.

"I forgot," Alejandro says.

"Can we go Rainbow's End too, mom?" Madison asks.

"That does sound like fun, what do you think Kev?" Mia asks.

"I'm in," Kevin answers.

Madison and Jake cheer loudly.

"Can I come with you?" Alejandro asks.

"It's okay with me bud, but ask your parents to see if it's okay with them, alright?" Tracy says.

"¿ La mamá, puede yo ir con Tracy y los otros al parque de atracciones?" Alejandro asks/yells across the house.

"Alejandro Enrique Mendieta, that's not what I meant," Tracy says.

"You meant for me to go and ask them?" Alejandro asks.

Tracy nods and Alejandro leaves to go asks his parents if he could come. Tracy's Aunt Elaine, uncle José, Alejandro walk back in the room.

"So what did they say, buddy?" Tracy asks.

"He can go, but he has to behave," Elaine says.

"Sí mamá, te lo prometo," Alejandro says.

A few hours later everyone leaves to go to Rainbow's End. They enter the park the first thing Alejandro notices when he looks over in the kid area is a rock climbing wall. Alejandro runs over towards it, and Anastasia follows right behind him and Anthony follows his big sister. Antonio quickly grabs his son and picks him up.

"Hold on a second you two," Tracy tells them.

The kids moan with disappointment and walk back over to her.

"Relax, kids, the rides aren't going anywhere. Walk don't run," Tracy says.

The kids walk over to the kids area as calmly as they could. Everyone is standing in front of the rock wall. Anastasia looks over at her mom and sees that she looks scared.

"Are you okay, mom?" Anastasia asks.

"Yes, sweetie I'm all right," Tracy answers.

Alejandro is the first one to climb the wall. They all watch him climb to the top.

"Wow, he's a really fast climber," Kevin says.

"Yeah, he sure is," Tracy says.

When Alejandro is climbing down he loses his footing and slips on one of the grips. The attendant walks backward and Alejandro is pulled back up. He grabs a hold of one of the grips and continues to climb down. The attendant helps him out of the harness, and he walks back over to the group.

"Alejandro, are you okay?" Tracy asks.

"Tracy, don't worry, I'm okay - really," Alejandro answers.

"Mommy, can I have a turn to climb the wall?" Anastasia asks.

"I don't know sweetie," Tracy answers.

"Mommy and I will be right back, okay? Emily, could you take Anthony?" Antonio says.

"Sure," Emily says.

Antonio hands his son to Emily. They walk over to one of the benches near the wall.

"Honey, why are you so afraid to let Anastasia climb the wall?" Antonio asks.

"I don't want her to get hurt You saw what happened to Alejandro," Tracy says.

"She'll be fine honey. Besides Alejandro just slipped that could happen to anyone." Antonio tells her.

"I know. What if Anastasia climbs the wall, and I don't know the harness snaps and she gets trapped up at the top. Then she might develop a fear of heights that will follow her for the rest of her life." Tracy says.

"Did that happen to you when you were her age?" Antonio asks.

"Yes," She answers.

"My little angel fish, relax that won't happen this time. I promise. How about you let her climb the wall and see what happens." Antonio says.

Tracy nods and they walk over to the group. She tells her daughter that she can climb the wall. Anastasia walks over the wall. The attendant puts the harness on her. Anastasia walks over to the wall. Tracy watches as her daughter climb the wall. They watch Anastasia climb the wall the same way her cousin did.

"We know one more thing about Anastasia," Kevin says.

"What is that Kevin?" Tracy asks.

"That she is a quick learner just like you," Kevin says.

When she reaches the top the rope connecting Anastasia harness to the wall snaps, so she grabs a hold of the grips quickly.

"Mom, Dad, ayúdame, help me, please," Anastasia yells.

"Don't worry sweetie the workers are going to help you. Just hang on honey," Antonio shouts.

Tracy walks over to the other attendant.

"Can you please get my daughter down from there?" Tracy asks frantically.

"Calm down ma'am we are going to get her down soon." The attendant says.

"Soon, how about now, please." She snaps.

Antonio walks over to Tracy. He pulls her to the side and tries to calm her down. Back at the wall, another worker climbs the wall. Anastasia looks over at him.

"You are going to bring me back down to my mommy?" She asks.

"Yes sweetie, take my hand." The worker says.

She takes the worker's hand. The worker cradles her in his arms. Then they are slowly lowered to the ground. The worker feels her shake a little as they are going down. When they reach the ground, the worker sets her on the ground. She runs over to her parents.

"Mom," Anastasia shouts.

Tracy picks her up and Anastasia sets her head in her chest. She starts to cry. Tracy rubs her back to sooth her.

"It's okay sweetie, you're safe now." Tracy says calmly.

A few minutes later Anastasia stops crying and Antonio hands her a tissue from his pocket to blow her nose.

"Hey sweetheart, how about we get some ice cream?" Antonio asks.

She nods. Tracy and Antonio take Anastasia to get some ice cream. While the others head over the rides. After Anastasia finishes her cone they walk over to the dragon coaster. Tracy watches as the kids along with Jayden and Kevin are riding the coaster.

"Let me guess the kids couldn't ride the ride without an adult with them." Tracy says.

Emily nods. As the coaster goes by them the kids' wave at them. They wave back to get off the coaster s few minutes later.

"Mommy, can we ride the merry go round?" Anastasia asks.

"Sure sweetheart," Antonio says.

"Yeah," Anthony cheers.

=Samurai First's=

The group heads over to the merry go round. They all get on the ride. Alejandro gets on a black horse, Jake gets on the tiger, Madison gets on the white tiger, Anastasia get on the cheetah, and Anthony gets on the zebra. Tracy stands next to him to make sure he did once the ride starts. The rest of the parents sit down the benches. The ride starts and the parents can hear their kids laughing and having fun. They get off the merry go round and head over to the car racing ride. The kids ride a few more rides before the kids tell their parents that they are hungry.

"How about we go to that new Mexican restaurant in town for lunch?" Tracy asks.

"Mommy can't we eat here." Anastasia whines.

Anastasia give her mom the sad face with the haled tilt, and the lip quiver.

_ Come on Tracy be strong. Don't give into that look._

"Pretty please mommy," Anastasia says.

"Okay sweetie you win this me that look can only work some many times." Tracy says.

Everyone heads over to the food stall and order lunch. After lunch Tracy hear a rumble of thunder.

"I'm sorry guys it looks like we might have to head home." Tracy says.

The kids moan in unison. Everyone walks past the nursery/ day care when the sky opens up. The rain comes down in sheets.

"Mom. the sky is crying a river," Anastasia says.

"More like a waterfall sweetie," Tracy says.

"Maybe we should go inside the nursery/ day care building till the rain passes," Kevin says.

"Good idea," Tracy says.

"It's it okay if we run mom?" Anastasia asks.

"Yes, sweetie," Tracy answers.

The group runs towards the building. Ladonna watches as everyone comes in soaking wet. She asks the other staff members to get some towels. They give them to her and she walks over to them.

"Here you go, and the staff and I can help get the little ones dried off so they don't get sick." Ladonna suggests.

Tracy nods and watches as the kids are led into the other room. They come out a few minutes later in some new dry clothes.

"Mommy can we go play in the bounce house?" Anastasia asks.

"Me too," Anthony says.

"Sure sweetie, be careful." Tracy says.

"Don't worry ma'am she'll be fine. We have someone watching them, so no one gets hurt." Ladonna says.

"That's good to know, I'm Tracy by the way and this is my husband Antonio." Tracy says.

"It's nice to meet you. Emily I thought you would like to know Mason has been a little angel." Ladonna says.

"Wow, that's great. He didn't throw the stuffed animals out of the crib?" Emily asks. "All the stuffed animals are still there." Ladonna says.

Emily doesn't say a looks over towards the kids. She sees Anastasia dong back flips and cartwheels in the bounce house.

"Wow, that little girl is very energetic isn't she?" Ladonna asks.

"Yes, that's my little girl." Antonio says.

=Samurai First's=

Twenty minutes later the storm is over so everyone heads back outside. They want to ride some more rides but all the rides were too wet to run properly. They head over to the games area. There were a few game stalls open. The bottle toss game and the game were you pop balloons by throwing darts at them, and game where you toss a ping-pong ball into a fish bowl. Antonio goes over to the bottle toss game; He wins a stuffed dolphin for Anastasia and a stuffed monkey for Anthony. The parents told the kids that they are going to head home in an hour.

An hour later everyone walks to their cars. Tracy buckles her daughter into her car seat. Alejandro buckles himself in his seat. Tracy shuts the back car doors. She gets into the driver's seat and Antonio rides shot-gun. Tracy looks in the rear view mirror three minutes later. She sees Alejandro and Anastasia fast asleep.

"Well honey, it looks like the kids had a great time today." Tracy says.

Anastasia is holding the dolphin her father won for her close to her heart and Anthony is doing the same thing with his monkey.

"Yeah they sure did my little angel fish" Antonio says.

In Mia and Kevin's are their twin boys were fast asleep also. The only thought on the parent minds was that they were happy that their kids had a good time today.

* * *

Translation

¿ La mamá, puede yo ir con Tracy y los otros al parque de atracciones? - Mom, can I go with Tracy and the others to the amusement park?

Sí mamá, te lo prometo, - I will mom, I promise.


	13. First Trip To Mariner Bay Part 1

The next morning around eight thirty Tracy and Antonio are sitting at the kitchen table. They decided that their apartment is too small for their growing family, so it was time to move into a house before Tracy started vet school. The kids were excited as well especially Anastasia because this meant that she didn't have to share a room with her little brother. Tracy is researching houses on the local Realtor website to find a three bedroom single-family house in Pasadena.

The first house is on a tree-lined street, has a spacious formal living room with a fireplace, a dining room with built-in French doors and a detached two car garage. The neighborhood it was in was a problem. It wasn't pet-friendly and the crime rate was high. The schools near it weren't what Tracy wanted they weren't up to the state's standards. Also, there weren't any high schools within a mile of the house either. Tracy didn't want the family to move again when the kids started high school.

The second house has textured carpeting in the bedrooms, a living room w/wood mantled and marble faced fireplace, a generous sized kitchen, a basement and a nicely landscaped front yard with a fountain. The neighborhood is in a good area and was pet-friendly with a really low crime rate. The elementary school and high school near it meet the state's standards but the middle school didn't.

The third house link Tracy clicked on was to a modern-day Spanish home. She immediately fell in love with it. The house has a vast living space with hardwood floors, a built-in surround sound, lighting and security system, the dining room opens up to the courtyard with redwood pergola and saltio tile. The neighborhood was excellent and has a great elementary school for the kids to attend and it was 1.2 miles away from the house, Norma Combs Alternative School.

"Honey, have you found our family's new house yet?" Antonio asks.

"Yes, honey, I think I finally found the perfect one after looking at two other houses." Tracy answers.

Tracy slides her laptop over to him. She sees Antonio's eyes light up instantly seeing the photo of the house. Antonio starts drooling a few seconds later. Tracy tries her best not to laugh at her husband's reaction. She grabs her computer and slides it away from him to prevent the keyboard from being covered by his drool. Antonio picks up a napkin to wipe his drool off of the corner of his mouth.

"You're right this house is perfect for our family. We should buy it while we can." Antonio says.

"Okay, honey, I'll call Tina Ortiz, the Real Estate agent now." Tracy says.

Tracy takes out her cell phone. She dials Tina's number. She holds the phone up to her ear. It rings a few times before she hears Tina's voice.

"Hello, I'm Tracy Garcia, my husband and I am interested in buying that modern-day Spanish house on Little Path." Tracy says.

"You're in luck we're about to take it off of the market. The down payment is $130,000." Tina says.

"Okay, thanks for the information. My husband and I will come by tomorrow afternoon to sign the papers." Tracy says.

"Okay, I'm looking forward to meeting the both of you." Tina says.

Tracy hangs up and puts her phone back in her pocket. She leans her head over the back of her chair and lets out a long sigh.

"What's wrong my little angel fish?" Antonio asks.

She lifts her head back up. She looks over at him. "The down payment for the house is $130,000. We only have one hundred thousand in savings. Where are we going to get the other thirty thousand we need?"

"I could call my parents and tell them what's going on." Antonio says.

"Antonio, honey, we can't ask them to do this for us. I mean they spent enough money on us when they helped my parents pay for the wedding and they're putting money back for the kids' college fund too." Tracy says.

Antonio walks over to her. He kisses her on the cheek.

"True, but we don't want to take out a loan do we?" Antonio asks.

"Well, no, but..." Tracy says.

"No, buts my little angel fish, I'm calling my folks later." Antonio says.

Tracy nods. A few seconds later they hear the sound of their children's running footfalls as they come down the hallway. Tracy gets up from her chair. She walks over to the doorway. The kids tackle their mom. Antonio hears a loud thump when Tracy hits the floor. He goes over his wife to help her get the kids off of her.

"Okay, you two it's time to let your mom up now." Antonio says.

"No," Anthony says.

Tracy knows one way to get her children to move. She makes a claw with her left hand, places it on Anthony's stomach and starts to tickle him. A few seconds later the three-year-old starts to squirm and laugh. Anastasia back away quickly because she didn't want to get tickled.

She walks over to the table. The others walk up to see Tracy tickling her son. Tracy looks to her left and sees her friends. She looks back over at her son. He was laughing so hard that he was crying. Tracy stops tickling him. Ashley walks over too. Antonio picks Anthony up. Ashley helps Tracy up off the floor.

"What's the plan for today?" Ashley asks.

"I was thinking that we could rent a minivan big enough to fit everyone. Then we drive to Mariner Bay." Tracy says.

"Why, are we going there?" Anastasia asks.

"I read on the city's website that tonight at the beach around 9 o'clock some baby sea turtles are going to hatch." Tracy says.

"Really, mom, let's go now." Anastasia says happily.

"What are we going to do before we head to the beach?" Mason asks.

"How does a visit to the aquarium sound? They even have a special thing for kids called Sea Squirts." Tracy says.

"What is Sea Squirts?" Ashley asks.

"I read that it's for kids from ages 3 to 6. It lasts about an hour. The first twenty minutes they get to see a marine act. The next thirty to forty minutes they get to feed some of the animals. When they're done the kids get a T-shirt as a souvenir. I also read that all of us can go swimming with the dolphins." Tracy says.

"That's sounds amazing," Ashley says.

"Can Luna come too mommy?" Anthony asks.

"Sorry, honey, Luna isn't a service dog. This means that she can't come. I'll call Ji when we're going to leave so he can meet us that way everyone can explore Mariner Bay until we head to the beach to see the baby sea turtles hatch." Tracy says.

== Samurai First's==

Two hours later Jayden pulls the minivan he rented for the day into the Mariner Bay aquarium parking lot. The kids are so excited to take part in Sea Squirts ever since Tracy mentioned it before they left the house. After Jayden parked the van the kids unbuckled their seat belts and hopped out of their booster seats. Jade, Anastasia and Jake work together to pull the sliding door open.

The others watch as the door slowly slides open. Once it was all the way open the kids hop out of the van. After everyone is out of the back seats Kevin closed the door. The group walks to the entrance. Anthony is so excited to see all the animals that he sprints away from the group.

"Antonio, could you go catch our son please?" Tracy asks.

"I'm on it," Antonio says.

Antonio steps to his left and starts sprinting to catch up with Anthony. The three-year-old speeds up when he hears his dad footfalls behind him. Meanwhile at the front door, captain William Mitchell, Carter Grayson, Dr. Dana Mitchell, Chad Lee who is taking the day off from working as the lifeguard at the local beach to volunteer at the aquarium and Ryan Mitchell watch the game of chase between Antonio and Anthony.

"Man that is one fast three-year-old," Ryan says.

"Anthony, slow down son, I know your mom doesn't want you to get hurt." Antonio shouts.

"Don't worry daddy, I won't get hurt." Anthony shouts.

A few inches in front of Anthony didn't see a crack in the sidewalk. His right foot gets caught in it. He falls to the ground and scrapes his knees. He starts to cry a few seconds later see a small amount of blood flowing from his wounds. Chad goes to get the first aid kit. He hands it to Dana.

Antonio and Dana dash up to Anthony. Antonio sits down next to him. He picks him up and sets him in his lap. Dana sets the first aid kit down. Antonio looks over at her.

"I'm Dr. Dana Mitchell, is it alright if I patch treat those scrapes?" Dana asks.

"Yes," Antonio says.

Anthony hugs his dad tighter when he sees Dana about to place the alcohol wipe on his knee. Dana clean off both scrapes. She takes out two boxes of Band-Aids. One box has ones covered with fish. The other box the Band-Aids has smiley faces on them.

"Which one would Band-Aid you like, buddy, fish or smiley faces?" Dana asks.

"Pez venda, por favor," Anthony says.

"What did he say?" Dana asks.

"He says that he wants a fish bandage please." Antonio says.

"Gotcha," Dana says.

She takes two Band-Aids out of the fish design box. She places them on his scrapes. Antonio gets to his feet after she sets him down.

"Ow," Anthony says.

He picks him back up, and puts him on his shoulders.

"Thank you for helping me Dr. Dana." Anthony says.

"You're welcome buddy," Dana says.

The rest of the group walks up. After everyone introduces themselves Chad leads the kids away to Sea Squirts. Jade turns around to see a sad expression on Anthony's face. She turns back around to face the group.

"Mr. Lee, I decided that I don't want to do sea squirts." Jade says.

"Okay, sweetie, you'll enjoy the seeing the other animals here." Chad says.

Jade walks back over to her parents. Anthony cheers happily in his dad's ear. A few seconds later Antonio's ears stop ringing.

"Anthony, buddy, I love you, but daddy still needs his sense of hearing." Antonio says.

"I'm sorry daddy," Anthony says.

"Jade, sweetheart, why didn't you go with the others to sea squirts," Ashley asks.

"I wouldn't have any fun if Anthony wasn't there too. It is okay if I go with you and dad?" Jade answers.

"Of course sweetie, your dad and I are so proud of you for staying behind so Anthony won't have to explore the aquarium alone." Ashley says.

"Which animal should we see first, the sea otters, the squids, or the sea turtles?" Tracy asks.

"Sea otters," Jade says.

"Si, nutrias de mar," Anthony says.

"It's unanimous were going to the sea otter exhibit." Tracy says.

The group heads to the sea otter exhibit. The group arrives and Antonio takes Anthony off his shoulder. He places him down on the floor.

"Come on Anthony," Jade says, taking the youngest Garcia's hand.

The two dash over to one of the tanks. Jade continues to hold Anthony's hand to make sure he stays put. The kids giggle as they watch the otters swim around. One of the otters stops when it sees the kids watching it. It swims up to the glass. The kids place their hands on the glass. The otter licks the glass.

"Mommy, it likes me." Anthony says.

"I guess so buddy," Tracy says.

The otter swims away a few seconds later so the kids decide to follow it. They gallop side to side along the edge of the tank to try to keep up with their new friend. The parents, Cater, Dana, Captain Mitchell and Ryan can't help but smile watching them trying to chase down the otter.

== Samurai First's==

Meanwhile at Sea Squirts, the kids watch intently as the dolphins flip through the air and dive back into the water. Another worker Sadie holds a hoop above her head. Chad shows Madison the hand signal that tells the dolphins to jump through the hoop. Madison draws a circle in the air using her left pointer finger. The dolphin dives down into the water, swims over to the other worker and leaps into the air.

"Wow, that was so cool," The kids say together.

Chad lets the kids have a turn doing the hand signal to tell the dolphin to jump through the hoop. The dolphin jumps through the hoop six more times before the workers arms get tired from hold the hoop up.

"Sorry kids, but Sadie needs to take a break. How about I go get the bucket of squid, so you can feed the dolphins to thank them for doing such a great job." Chad says.

"Okay," The kids say.

Chad walks over to the spot where Sadie left the bucket of squid. He comes back with the bucket. He hands each of the kids a piece of squid.

"Eww, it stinks," Emmile and Madison say.

"It doesn't smell that bad. Daddy says low tide smells worse." Anastasia says.

Chad whistles and the dolphins swim up to the edge of the tank. The kids toss them the squid. Anastasia tosses her piece of squid towards the dolphins, but it slip out of her hand. It flies high in the air, so the dolphin has to do a back flip to catch it.

"Sorry, Mr. Lee, I didn't mean for it to go flying like that." Anastasia says.

"It's okay, sweetie, I know you didn't mean too," Chad says.

After the kids finish feeding the dolphin, Chad leads them over to another tank where the kids get to see Chad feed the manta ray. Twenty minutes pass so it was time for the kids to leave to meet back up with their parents. Sadie gives the kids their shirts. The kids thanks Chad and Sadie for a great time. Sadie waves goodbye to the kids as Chad lead them away.

== Samurai First's==

The group leaves the tide pool exhibit to head back to the entrance to meet up with Chad and the kids. After Chad fills them in on how great they were. Everyone head over to the penguin exhibit to watch the worker feed them. Tracy noticed that Jade still hasn't let go of her son's hand. The group sits down on the bleachers and waits for it to start. The shows lasts fifteen minutes. The kids laughed a lot seeing the penguin's waddles around and slide on their bellies to catch the fish. The group leaves the show and heads to the shallow water area so they could go swimming with the dolphins.

Everyone is standing at the water edge. Anthony lets go of Jade's hand. He grabs a hold of his mom's leg when he sees the dolphins swim up to the trainer that was in charge of the session. The others =head into the water very excited to start.

"Mommy," Anthony says very scared.

Tracy bends down to get at her son's eye level. She sees the fear in his eyes. She picks him up and gives him a big hug.

"It's okay buddy, you don't have to go if you don't want too." Tracy says.

Anthony hugs his mom back. Tracy sets him back down. Anthony walks back over to Chad and the others. Tracy gets in the water and goes over to the group.

"Why isn't Anthony coming?" Jade asks.

"He's just scared about this whole idea of swimming with the dolphins that's all," Tracy says.

Ten minutes into the session Anthony saw how much fun everyone is having to get to interact with the dolphins. He decides to give it another try. He walks over to the water edge and slowly get in the water. One of the dolphins, Marina, swims over to him. Anthony wraps his arm around it and lets it tow him over to the others. Tracy turns around and sees her son holding onto a dolphin as it swims up to her. Anthony lets go of the dolphin when it gets close enough to his mom. He takes a hold of his mom's hand.

"Mommy, I want to try again." Anthony says.

"I'm really proud of you Anthony for deciding to try again," Tracy says.

The dolphin that helped Anthony get to is mom presses its nose against his cheek. Anthony giggled feeling the dolphin's cool nose touch his warm skin.

"That tickles," Anthony says.

"It looks like Marina likes you son," Antonio says.

Anthony pets Marina like he saw the others doing. Twenty minutes later everyone leaves to go change back into their regular clothes. Everyone heads back to the entrance to get ready to leave.

"What are we going to do now?" Anastasia asks.

"Well I was thinking that we could take a hike down one of the trail in the local park with Luna." Tracy says.

"Yeah," Anastasia says.

==Samurai First's==

Everyone gets out of their cars. The group found a nice trail. Their enjoying the hike mostly because the light breeze blowing through the wood is helping to their hair off. Anastasia reached over to try to take the leash from her mom.

"Sorry, honey, you're not big enough to hold the leash yet." Tracy says.

"When will I be big enough to walk Luna?" Anastasia asks.

"In about four more years." Tracy says.

The group continues down the path. Luna's ears perk up a few seconds later. The puppy walks backwards and unclasped her collar from the leash. She runs off into the woods.

"Mom, why did Luna do that?" Jade asks.

"I don't know sweetie, but let's follow her and find out," Ashley says.

* * *

**AN: What exactly did Luna hear? Will the Samurai rangers meet the rest of the Lightspeed rangers? **

**Remember reviews are appreciated.**


	14. First Trip To Mariner Bay Part 2

The group continues their dash through the forest to catch up with Luna. Meanwhile, the one-year-old dog reaches the edge of the small stream. She sees the source of the sound that guided her here. Two one-year-old cats getting dragged downstream by the strong current, Luna leaps into the air and makes a big splash when she hits the water. She swims over to them one has a star birthmark on the tip of its right ear and the other has a sun-shaped birthmark at the tip of its left ear. Luna grabs the first cat where its mom would have to carry it when it was a kitten and swims back to shore. She sets it a safe distance away from the steam and goes back in to rescue the kitten.

A few minutes later the group arrives to see the first cat shivering furiously. Tracy quickly takes off her jacket. She wraps the kitten up in it.

"Mom, can I hold it? Anastasia asks.

Tracy nods. She hands it to her daughter. The group looks over to see Luna is trying to rescue the other cat. The dog is a few feet away from the shore. A huge wave sweeps the animals downstream. Tracy's samurai instincts kick in. She whips the leash around her head like a lasso and tosses it towards her dog. They hear it splash when it hits the water.

"Luna, Marder la corea, you can do it," Tracy says.

The dog bites down as hard as she can. Tracy praises the dog as she pulls them in. A few feet later the leash starts to come apart where Luna's teeth pierced it. Tracy starts to pull them in faster in hope that the leash would stay together. A few pulls later it snaps because it got caught on a rock. Luna climbs onto it and barks as loud as she can.

"Dad, she is stuck, how can we help Luna and the kitten now?" Jade asks.

"Don't worry sweetie, I have a plan. Kevin, Antonio, Mike and Carter please come with me," Jayden says.

The men walk into the stream. They form a human chain; Kevin is the first in line. He extends his arms out towards Luna. The dog slowly inches towards him.

"Luna, Salta, jump to Kevin," Tracy says.

Luna gets ready to jump. A small wave splashes a thin, sharp twig up. She yelps when it cuts her leg a few inches above her right front paw. She quickly back away while whimpering in pain.

"Don't worry girl you're going to be fine. Please just jump, Salta," Tracy says.

The dog whimpers again when she sets her right paw down on the rock to get ready to jump again. She springs up into the air. Kevin catches her gently so the cat on her back wouldn't fall off. He passes her down the chain. Tracy takes her dog from Carter. Antonio and Chad take off their coats. Antonio wraps Luna in his and Chad wraps the kitten in his. The men get out of the steam.

"How did these little ones get here?" Dana asks.

"Good question, but we figure it out later. These animals need to see a vet now." Tracy says.

"The vet clinic on the corner of Emerald Point and Bright Horse Ridge closes in fifteen minutes, if we leave now, we should just make it," Carter says.

They leave the scene of the rescue mission the same way they entered. They climb back into the minivan. Tracy gets in the driver's seat. She turns on the engine and follows Carter out of the parking lot. Twenty miles down the road she sees the flashing of the lights of an ambulance, two fire trucks and police cars.

"This can't be good," Tracy says.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Anastasia asks.

"There is a really bad accident up ahead," Tracy answers.

"How are you going to help Sol and his brother Estrella and Luna?" Anastasia asks.

"Anastasia, honey, try your best not to get too attached to them. I said that I would help them. Let me make this very clear we aren't keeping them." Tracy says.

"Why not, mom, they are so cute," Anastasia says.

"I know they are honey, but they could have owners. Plus, we already have one pet." Tracy says.

Carter pulls into the parking lot of the nearest restaurant. Tracy makes a left turn to pull in as well. She parks the car and tells everyone to stay put. She gets out and walks over to Carter and Dana.

"Is there another way to get to the clinic?" Tracy asks.

"I'm afraid not, but I do know of one other place that you can go to help Luna and the kittens," Dana says.

"Really, where is it?" Tracy asks.

"The aqua base, I'm sure that the medical wing should have everything you need," Dana says.

"Good idea Dana," Carter says.

Tracy walks back to the van and gets in. She makes a right turn and follows Carter to the aqua base. The kids' eyes light up brighter than they did on Christmas morning as they drive down the tunnel leading to the entrance to the aqua base. Tracy puts the van in park and turns off the engine when they reach the lift. The lift slowly goes up and the group gets out of when it comes to a complete stop. Tracy takes Sol out of Anastasia's arms. She looks over at Anthony to see her son, let out a big yawn.

"I think it is nap time," Tracy says.

"I want to help you take care of Sol," Anastasia says.

"Sorry sweetie, but I think you need to take a nap too," Tracy says.

"Why?" Anastasia asks.

"Because if you don't take a nap now I can guarantee that you'll be fast asleep when it's time to watch the sea turtles hatch tonight," Tracy says.

"Okay, I'll take my nap," Anastasia says.

"That's my girl," Tracy says.

Ryan and Captain Mitchell lead Jayden, Mike, Ashley, Emily and Mia, and all the kids to the bedrooms. Emmaline, Jade, Madison, and Anastasia share one room. Ashley, Emily, and Mia guide the girls to their beds. They climb into their beds.

"Mom, will the cats be okay?" Jade asks.

"Yes, sweetie, they'll be fine," Ashley says.

"Yeah, my mom is great at helping animals," Anastasia says.

"She sure is," Jayden says.

They tuck the girls in and tell them a story to help them fall asleep. Ten minutes later the girls are fast asleep. They tiptoe out of the room. Ashley turns off the light. Ryan leads them to the galley. Meanwhile, the others walk into one of exam rooms; Tracy sets Sol down on the table. He looks up at her. She sees the same look Luna gave her when she showed up at the Shiba house.

_One of these days my good nature is going to come back to bite me. _ Tracy thinks.

Dana hands her a stethoscope, a thermometer, a jar of petroleum jelly, alcohol and a roll of paper towels. Antonio sets the animal first aid kit from the van down on the table. Tracy puts the stethoscope on her neck, and sets everything else down on the table. She starts by taking Sol's temperature, it was 99.6. She puts the ear pieces of the stethoscope in her ears to listen to his heart and lungs. His pulse is 125, his resting respiration rate is 50 breathes, and his pulse 180 beats/min. She finishes her exam by taking his blood pressure, it's 150/97.

She takes stethoscope off and hands it back to Dana. She checks Sol's hydration level next. She gently but firmly grips the skin between his shoulder blades and lifts it up with a twisting motion.

"What are you doing?" Kevin asks.

"I'm checking to see how hydrated, he is." Tracy answers.

Tracy lets go of Sol's skin. It takes ten seconds for it to pop back into place. She does the same thing with Estrella and gets the same result.

"Dana, I'm going to need your help setting up an IV drip for Sol and the other cat. I'm afraid that they're severely dehydrated they need fluids now." Tracy says.

Dana nods. She gets everything Tracy needed. A few minutes later Tracy finishes setting up the IV drips. She gets to work and fixes the cut on Luna's leg. A few minutes later two of staff members walks in. Tracy goes over to them, tells them what to do and about Luna's temperament towards strangers. Luna goes over to Estrella and jumps up onto the bed. She lies down next to him. The cat slowly moves closer to her. He rubs his head against her chest and starts to purr. Tracy and the others leave to room after Tracy takes a picture of them.

They head to the galley as they enter the room Tracy sees Mike quickly eating a huge plate of food. She doesn't say a word and walks up to them.

"Hey, Tracy, so how are our four legged friends doing?" Ryan asks.

"Okay, Luna cut wasn't too deep all it needs is to clean out once a day so it won't get infected. The two cats were severely dehydrated." Tracy answers.

"Do you know if the cats have owners?" Emily asks.

"I have this strange feeling that they did, but I think they were abandoned." Tracy says.

"That's terrible," Emily says.

"How did you know that they had an owner?" Ryan asks.

"I noticed some of the fur was rubbed away and it was in the shape of a collar." Tracy says.

"They could have been an indoor/outdoor cat and the owner could have just taken the collar off when he/she let them outside." Emily says.

"If that was the case Em, the owners would have been out looking for them." Tracy says.

"That's true my little angle fish. What are we going to do once the cats are well again?" Antonio asks.

"Simple my golden knight, I've already told the kids that we're not keeping them. Carter, do you think that you and Dana could take them to the animal shelter tomorrow morning?' Tracy says.

"Sure thing," Carter says.

"How about we switch gears for a minute. Tracy, you were looking for a house weren't you?" Ashley asks.

"Yea, Ash-tree I was. I found the perfect one, but I can't show you the pictures their on my laptop back at the Shiba house." Tracy says.

"Here's a good question, how much is the down payment?" Kevin asks.

"$130, 000, we have 100,000 saved up, so Antonio convinced me to let his parents give us the rest that way we won't have to take out a loan." Tracy answers.

"That reminds me, I have to go call them. I'll be right back." Antonio says.

= Samurai First's =

Antonio walks over to the far corner of the room. He takes his cell phone out of his pants pocket. He searches through his contacts till he finds his parents' number and presses the green call button. He places on his right ear and listens to it ring a few times.

"Hello, hijo, how are you doing?" Sonia asks.

"I'm fine. Tracy finally found the perfect house for the family, but we still need a little more money for the down payment. Do you think that you and dad could help us out? " Antonio says.

"Hijo, you know that your father and I will do anything to help our grandchildren. How much do you two need?" Sonia asks.

"Just thirty thousand dollars," Antonio says.

"When do you need it by?" Sonia asks.

"Tomorrow, Tracy called the realtor and she said that the house would be going off the market in two days." Antonio says.

"How about we meet you at the realtor's office, and we do everything then." Sonia says.

"Sounds great, thanks mom." Antonio says.

"You're welcome," Sonia says.

Antonio puts his phone away, and goes back over to the table. He sits down next to his wife. They talk about how they're going to spend the rest of the day at the beach. Two hours later they hear the sound of their kids running footfalls as they come down the hallway. The parents get up and walk over to the doorway. The kids tackle them a few seconds later. After a quick tickle fight the kids climb off their parents so they can get to their feet.

"Mom, how is Sol?" Anastasia asks.

"He and his brother were severely dehydrated honey." Tracy says.

"They're going to be okay, right?" Anastasia asks.

Tracy nods. They head back to the medical wing to check on their four legged friends. They enter the room and see them running around.

"Sol and his brother are back to acting, how a one-year-old cat should." Tracy says.

"Is there a way to find out if they have owners?" Jade asks.

"Yes, Jade, some owners microchip their pets, so all I need is a scanner to see if Sol or his brother has one." Tracy answers.

"Where is it located?" Kevin asks.

"It usually is inserted deeply under the skin between the cat's shoulder blades." Tracy says.

Dana hands her a microchip scanner. Tracy picks up Sol and passes it over his shoulder blades in a circular motion. The screen reads that no microchip is found. She does the same thing with Estrella, and gets the same result. She sets Estrella down and hands the scanner back to Dana.

"Well, neither of them have a microchip." Tracy says.

"Does that mean we can keep them?" Anastasia asks.

"Honey, I told you on the ride to the clinic. We are not keeping them." Tracy says.

"Please, mom." Anastasia begs.

Tracy sees her daughter start to make her puppy dog eyes. She reminds herself not to give into it. She shakes her head no. Sol leaps into the air. Tracy catches him in her arms. Sol starts to lick her face.

Antonio watches as his wife tries her best not to smile or laugh. He also can tell that she is fighting an internal battle of not falling for the cat's sweet and loving personality. Estrella walks up and rubs her leg. A few seconds later he starts to purr. Sol stops licking Tracy's face and just pressing his nose against her cheek. Tracy bends down and sets him back down on the floor. The cats look up at her. Tracy sees their gold eyes sparkle. This makes them look even cuter. Tracy tires not to give into their look, but eventually she broke down.

"Look, we'll bring them home, but we are just being a foster home for them." Tracy says.

"What do you mean mom?" Anastasia asks.

"Being a foster home means that they'll live with us for a while till the local animal shelter tries to find them a forever home." Tracy answers.

"Why can't you just keep them?" Mason asks.

"Well, son, I think Tracy wants to teach Anastasia and Anthony that they can't keep every animal that Luna rescues or may show up at their doorstep." Emily says.

"Right," Tracy says.

"What are we going to do till the turtles hatch, dad?" Jade asks.

"We thought that we could spend the rest of the day at the beach." Jayden answers.

The kids cheer loudly. The parents take that as they're okay with the plan. Sol and Estrella go over to the far corner of the room. They curl up into a ball and take a cat nap. The group leaves the room and Luna follows them.

= Samurai First's =

They climb back into the van. After a quick trip to the local swimsuit store to buy the kids some swimsuits and the adults bought some too. Anthony picked out a blue Surfboards Swim Trunks. Ashton picked out a royal surfboard iXtreme - Little Boys Swim Suit. Mason picked out black/white Jumping Beans® Shark Swim Shorts. Jake picked out a TMNT swimsuit. Anastasia picked out a blue floral print Kanu Surf Little Girls' Lei Racerback One Piece Swimsuit. Jade picked out a Jump'N Splash Girls Polka Dots One-Piece with Matching Flip Flops. Madison picked out a Cream Brown Leopard Ruffle Tutu Lace Bikini Swimsuit with matching Cap. Tracy bought a Fantasia Aqua Controlfit Swimsuit for herself. Emily bought a Red Dancing Leaves V-neck One-Piece suit. Mia bought a pink Moonstone Beach Square Neck Controlfit Swimsuit. Ashley bought a red bikini. The men just picked out swim shorts that match their ranger color. They also stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some beach toys. Antonio bought a Disney Princess Purse Fishing Kit for Anastasia and a Marvel Iron Man Backpack Fishing Kit for Anthony.

Tracy bought some other foods good for a beach barbeque just in case Antonio took the kids fishing and didn't catch anything. While they were leaving they walk past the AS seen on TV section. The kids stop in their tracks when they see the Bright Eyes Blankets.

"These are so cute," Anastasia says.

"I want the Panda." Jake says.

"Mom, I want the kitty," Jade says.

"Pato," Anthony says.

"I want the puppy," Madison says,

"I want the panda," Mason says.

"I want the puppy, too." Ashton says.

The parent knew that the kids would need something to keep them warm once the sun went down. They grab the boxes off of the self and out them in the cart. After they check everyone goes out to the car. They drive to the beach. The kids get out just as fast as they did when they got to the aquarium. The group finds a spot to put down their gear.

"What should we do first?" Ashley asks.

"We should find some firewood so we are able to cook dinner." Tracy says.

"Good idea," Jayden says.

Jayden and Carter leave the group to go gather the firewood. Kevin and Chad dig a fire pit. Ashley picks up one of the kids buckets and goes over to the ocean to get some water to put the fire out when they leave. Jayden and Carter walk down the coast. They spot a few good pieces of driftwood scattered on the sand in front of them. Jayden picks up a few pieces and hands them to Carter.

"Carter, when are Joel and his wife going to be here?" Jayden asks.

Carter hears someone call his name. The men turn around and see Joel, Rawlings and Kelsey walk up to them. Joel is wearing a green pair of swim trunks. Rawlings is wearing a floral print one piece that perfectly complements her body type. Kelsey is wearing a navy one piece. Carter introduces Jayden to them.

"Carter, I have great news, I' m going to be a father." Joel says.

"Congratulations, being a father is a lot of hard work, but..." Jayden says.

A few seconds later the red samurai ranger gets tackled by his kids. They others try not to laugh when he hit the sand.

"Daddy, did you and Mr. Carter finish getting the fire wood yet? Jade asks.

"Yeah, I want to go swimming," Ashton says.

"We're almost done, so can you let daddy up. Please," Jayden says.

The Shiba kids nod, they climb off their father. Joel helps him up and he looks down at them. Ashley walks up and kisses him on the cheek.

"Did you have to send the kids to tackle me?" Jayden asks.

"I didn't send them to do that, honey. They did it on their own," Ashley says.

Joel looks down at Jade. He notices that she looks just like her mom. Mrs. Rawlings places her hand on her baby bump. She wishes that their new baby will be just as adorable as Jade or as handsome as Ashton. They head back to the group. Jayden and Cater build the fire. Tracy tells them to wait an hour or so before they light it. They nod. Kevin and Chad take Ashton and the other kids swimming. Antonio takes Anastasia and Anthony fishing.

Luna starts to bark happily and see her tail wagging the same way. She turns to her left and sees what caused the puppy's jubilant reaction. Ballade is wearing a modest bikini. Fiarce is wearing a black pair of swimsuit. Angela and Amelia are wearing a ruffled leopard spot bikini. Antonio James is wearing a pair of swim trunks with an ice kanji pattern on them. Amelia lets go of Ballade's hand and runs up to her big sister.

"Sissy," Amelia says.

She gives her big sister a big hug. Tracy groans loudly. She couldn't believe how strong her little sister is when she starts to squeeze the air out of her lungs.

"I'm happy to see you too, herminta, but I need to breathe." Tracy says.

"Lo siento, gran hermana," Amelia says.

"Está bien, que has estado practicando a su español no es," Tracy asks.

"Sí," Amelia says.

Tracy chuckles lightly. Amelia lets her big sister go. Tracy didn't see her big brother.

"Hey, mom, where is Chris anyway?" Tracy asks

"He's around her somewhere." Ballade says.

Chris sneaks up behinds her. He is about to shout into her ear.

"Don't even think about it, gran hermano." Tracy says.

"You're not fun anymore," Chris says.

"I'm still fun, Chris, I just refuse to let to scare the life out of me, that's all." Tracy says.

"Where are Anastasia and Anthony?" Ballade asks.

"Antonio took them fishing," Tracy answers.

"Sis, have you heard from the vet school yet?" Chris asks.

"Tracy, you forgot to call your family after they called you two days ago." Kevin snaps.

"In my defense, I was still trying to process everything after they called me, okay?" Tracy says.

"What did they say sweetie?" Fiarce asks.

"I'm in and that class starts on Aug 31st." Tracy says.

"Doesn't Anastasia start preschool this year too?" Chris asks.

"Yes, don't remind me." Tracy says.

"Let me guess, you're wishing that Anastasia didn't grow up so fast?" Ballade says.

"Yes, is it wrong of I say that I don't want her to go?" Tracy asks.

"No, honey, every parent has those thoughts when their first child starts school." Ballade says.

"Sis, I thought you said that Antonio got a job at that sea food restaurant?" Chris asks.

"He did and his first day is Aug 31st too," Tracy says.

"Mom, can we go swimming too?" Angela asks.

"Sure, sweetie, just be careful not to play too rough with the little ones." Ballade says.

"We'll be careful, we promise." The triplets say.

They head towards the water. After they introduce themselves to the others, everyone starts swimming around. A few minutes later Amelia and the others start playing catch with the beach ball. On the other side of the beach Antonio and his kids cast their lines into the water. They wait patiently for a bite. Ten minutes pass and no one got a tug on their line.

"Dad, did the fish swim away?" Anastasia asks.

"No, sweetie, they're down there we just have to wait a little longer." Antonio says.

A few seconds later, Anthony's pole starts to bend towards the water. He reels the fish in just like his dad told him. After the fish was close enough to him, he grabs a hold of the line and goes over to his dad. Antonio looks to his left and sees his son running up with a five inch long yellow croaker on his line.

"Daddy, look at my fish." Anthony says.

"Good catch son," Antonio says.

"Thank you daddy," Anthony says.

A few minutes later everyone had caught a fish, so they head back to the others. Tracy turns around to see her husband and kids walking up.

"We caught the bigger fish," Anthony says.

"Yeah, the smaller one is daddies." Anastasia says.

"They're confused," Antonio says.

"No, we're not," The kids say.

"I have an idea why do we build a sand castle." Tracy says.

The kids nod. Tracy calls to her younger siblings. The group gets out of the ocean. After they dry off, everyone finds a spot to build the sand castle. Twenty minutes later the castle is finished. Tracy takes a picture of it with her phone. Ballade takes a few more pictures with the digital camera; she brought to capture all the memories from today. Thirty minutes later they eat dinner.

"Mom, can we make smore's please?" Angela says.

"Sure," Ballade says.

After everyone had a couple Smore's they clean up and put most of the gear back in the car. Afterwards, they sit down in front of it. Tracy notices that the kids are starting to look bored.

"Antonio, I have an idea, how about you go grab your guitar from the car." Tracy says.

"Sure," Antonio says.

Antonio leaves and comes back with his guitar. He sits down next to his wife. He tunes the guitar and winks at his wife. Tracy gets up and stands a few feet away from the fire. Antonio starts to play some Flamenco music. Tracy starts to dance to the music. A few steps into the dance Anastasia, Amelia and Angela get up. They go over to her, and start dancing with her. Ballade takes out the camera and starts to record this great memory. Five minutes later Antonio plays the last note. The others clap and the girls bow. Ballade stops recording the video and puts the camera away. They go back over to the group, and sit down.

"Mommy, can you and daddy sing?" Anthony asks.

"I have a better idea, how about we all sing a song?" Tracy answers.

"I'm in," Ashley says.

"Us too," Mia and Emily say.

"Us too," Jayden, Antonio, Kevin and Mike say.

"What song should we sing?" Tracy asks,

"What about the Austin and Ally Glee Club mash up," Ashley says.

The group nods. Tracy goes to the car to get her iPod and the speakers. She finds the song and presses play. The rangers walk over to where Tracy, Anastasia and her little sisters danced. After the song ends Tracy walks back over to the speakers and turns her iPod and the speakers. A few hours later they go over to the sea turtle nest site. The kids are wrapped up in their bright eyes blankets. Tracy starts to shiver as the cool night air. Antonio wraps his arms around her and pulls her into his chest.

"Thanks honey." Tracy says.

"You're welcome," Antonio says.

Ten minutes later they see the baby turtles begin to push their way up and out of the nest. The group thought that all of them were out but more kept coming out and heading to the sea. Tracy keeps hearing the kids say aw as the turtles waddle out to the sea. Twenty minutes later all the turtles hatched. They group walks back over to the fire. Ashley puts it out.

"Mom, can't we stay five more minutes?" Anastasia asks.

"No, sweetie, it's late." Tracy says.

Tracy glances over at Anthony and watches him drift to sleep. Antonio catches him a few seconds later. The rest of the kids fall asleep the parents catch them. They carry them to the van, and buckle them in. the parents get in as well. Tracy takes one more picture with her phone. She smiles seeing all the kids zonked out after the busy day they had.

* * *

Translation

Marder la corea- bite the leash

Hijo- son

Pato- duck

Lo siento, gran hermana – I'm Sorry big sister.

Está bien, que has estado practicando a su español no es - It's okay, you've been practicing your Spanish haven't you?

Sí – yes

Gran hermano- big brother


	15. First Karate Class Part 1

The next morning at the Shiba house in Tracy and Antonio's room, Tracy hears the alarm on her phone go off. She reaches over half awake to turn it off. She presses the silent button, and puts it back down on the end table. She sits up and wipes the sleep from her eyes.

_Today's the day._

She turns to her left and sees her husband still fast asleep. She gently shakes him. Antonio groans and pulls the sheets over his head.

"What time is it?" Antonio asks.

"Seven thirty and the realtor's office open up at nine. We have to leave at eight thirty, remember your parents are meeting us half way at that one restaurant for breakfast." Tracy says.

Tracy pulls the sheets back down. She leans in and kisses him on the cheek. Antonio's eyes slowly open. His vision is blurry from the sleep in his eyes, but he can make out Tracy's kind smile and her dazzling blue eyes.

"Now that you're awake, I am going to get ready." Tracy says.

"Can't you wait a few more seconds," Antonio says.

Tracy back away. She gets out of the bed, and heads to the bathroom to take a shower. Ten minutes later Tracy walks back in their bedroom. She is wearing a nice outfit she would wear if she was going casual to church. She sees that Antonio is wearing the same. They share a quick good morning kiss.

They leave the room and head outside to the car. They get inside and drive to Denny's. Ten minutes later they pull into the parking lot. After Antonio turns off the car they get out and walk inside. They're greeted by Antonio's parent.

"Good morning, son," Sonia says.

"Good morning mom," Antonio says.

The hostess greets them and leads them to a booth. Antonio's parents sit on the left side and Tracy and Antonio sit down on the right side of the booth. The hostess places the menus down in front of them.

"Can I start you off with something to drink?" The hostesses ask.

"I'll have orange juice," Antonio says.

"I'll have large milk," Tracy says.

"I'll have the herbal tea," Sonia says.

"I'll have regular coffee." Marquis says.

The hostess writes down the drink order. She walks to the kitchen to tell their server what they ordered. A few seconds later the server comes back with their drinks. She sets them down in front of the correct person.

"Have you decided what you want or do you need a few minutes?" The server asks.

"We need a few minutes." Marquis says.

The server smiles and heads back to the kitchen to let them look over the menu. Tracy picks up her menu and slowly reads down the column of the items. Antonio looks over at his wife. He can see a nervous look on her face.

"Honey, what's with that face?" Antonio asks.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tracy says.

"That I'm nervous about going to the Realtor face." Antonio says.

"What if we sign the paperwork and it doesn't go through? I mean the kids are so excited about moving out of the apartment." Tracy says.

"Tracy, you need to relax," Marquis says.

"My dad is right. You shouldn't be focused on that right now. Especially since we haven't even met with the realtor yet," Antonio says.

Tracy nods. Two minutes later the server comes back to the table. She asks them if they have decided what they want. They nod. Tracy orders Peanut Butter Cup Pancake Breakfast. Marquis orders Santa Fe Skillet. Sonia orders ultimate omeletee. Antonio orders the All-American Slam. The server writes their order down and takes it back to the kitchen after gathering up the menus. Ten minutes later their food arrives. The server asks if they need anything else. They say no. The server leaves to let them eat. Twenty minutes later they finish eating and the server gives them the check. Marquis leaves to go pay it, and the others get up to put their jackets on. They put a tip on the table. Marquis walks back to the table and Sonia hands him his jacket. They leave the restaurant and head to the realtor's office.

Back at the house the others are in the kitchen eating breakfast. The Garcia kids walk in the room still in their Pjs. Anthony looks around and didn't see his parents.

"Where are mommy and daddy?" Anthony asks.

"They went to the realtor's office so sign some papers. They should be back soon." Ashley says.

"Which soon do you mean, the five minute soon, or the soon I'll be all grown up soon?" Anastasia asks.

"The second one," Mike says.

"Mike," Emily snaps.

She slaps her husband in the gut. He groans. Then she tells Anastasia that they should be back in an hour or so. They walk to the table. After they sit down Ashley gives them their breakfast.

Tracy and Antonio along with his parents walk in the realtor's office. After they check in with the receptionist they sit down in the waiting room. Ten minutes later, Tina walks up to them. Tina has deep-set eyes the color of cold ashes. Her luxurious, straight, charcoal-colored hair is worn is pulled up into a tight bun. She has a lean build. Her skin is tanned. She is wearing a Black Label by Evan-Picone Tweed Jacket, Skirt or Tie-Neck Blouse and Evan-Picone Tweed Skirt with matching shoes.

"Hello, I'm Tina. It's so nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Garcia, how about we get to know each other a little better in my office." Tina says.

"Sounds good," Tracy says.

They get up from their chairs and walk down the hallway to Tina's office. They make a left turn into Tina's office. Tracy and the others sit in the chairs in front of Tina's desk. After Tina sits down, they start talking again.

"So, why are you interested in this house?" Tina asks.

"Well, my husband and I have a strong Mexican heritage and it is in a great neighborhood too. I wanted to make sure the house we picked that it would be a good to raise our children." Tracy says.

"Can I see a picture of your children, if that's okay with you?" Tina says.

Tracy nods. She takes out her phone and scrolls through her pictures. She stops on the one she took at her birthday last year. Then she hands her phone to Tina.

"They're adorable and the puppy is cute too," Tina says.

"Thank you," Tracy says.

Tina hands Tracy her phone. She puts it back in her purse. They talk for a few more minutes before Tina places the offer to buy the house in front of them. She hands Tracy a pen. Tracy nervously takes a hold of it. She places the tip onto the line that says buyer's signature. After she finished writing her signature and hands it to Antonio. He signs his name too, and gives the pen back to Tina. Tracy gives her the form.

"Okay, I'll call the listing agent to let him know I have an offer on the house. Once he decides I'll call you and we'll take it from there." Tina says.

"Okay, thank you Tina." Tracy says.

They get up from their chairs. Tina shakes everyone's hand again before they leave the room. Tracy, Antonio and his parents walk to their cars.

"Thank you again Sonia and Marquis, for helping us out." Tracy says.

"You're welcome," Sonia says.

They get in their cars and drive away.

Back at the Shiba house, everyone has finished eating breakfast. Ashley and Jayden do the dishes. Ten minutes later they walk into the living room. They hear the front door open. Tracy and Antonio walk down the hallway. They turn to their right. Anthony gets up from his chair. He runs over to Tracy. She bends down and picks him up. Anastasia calm walks up.

"When can we move into the new house?" Anastasia asks.

"We have to wait a little bit longer, sweetie." Tracy answers.

"Okay," Anastasia says sadly.

They go over to the group. They sit down.

"Mom, where are we going today?" Anastasia asks.

"Good question sweetie, what we have got planned today?" Tracy says.

"We've exhausted a lot of our options over the past few days. I mean we've gone to the beach, the aquarium, and the amusement park." Ashley says.

"We could go to Reefside," Kevin says.

"Why dad," Madison asks.

"I read on the city's website that the local karate school offers a free class today." Kevin says.

"But, Anthony and Ashton are too young, aren't they?" Tracy asks.

"Anthony's birthday is in two days," Antonio says.

"How about we go there and talk to the teacher." Kevin says.

"I guess we could try," Tracy says.

Tracy sets Anthony down. The kids cheer loudly. They dash to their rooms, and come back in their coats. The parents turn to their left and chuckle seeing their kids.

"Can we leave now, please?" Anastasia asks.

"Sure, sweetie," Tracy says.

Two hours later they pull into the parking lot of the karate school. They get out and walk inside. Tracy notices that they are the only one's here.

"How come we are the only people here?" Tracy asks.

"We are a really big group." Kevin says.

"True," Tracy says.

They take off their jackets and hang them on the hook next to the door. Tommy walks up to them.

"Hi, I'm Tommy Oliver, so are these the kids I get to teach today?" Tommy asks.

"Yes, but I'm curious, if my son can participate?" Tracy asks.

"How old is he?" Tommy asks.

"He'll be three in two days." Tracy says.

"Of course, all I'll be doing is showing them a few things I teach in little ranger programs." Tommy says.

"Yeah," Anthony cheers.

"What about me, mom, can I do karate too?" Ashton asks.

"I'm sure that you can join in too, sweetie," Ashley says.

"Yeah," Ashton says.

"Maybe, we should do it too," Chris says

"Why, do you want the triplets and your niece and nephew to see you get pinned by me again." Tracy jokes.

"That won't happen, because I bet you don't even remember any of those moves." Chris says.

"You're just saying that because you're afraid that I'm going to win again." Tracy says.

"How about you go and change so we can get started." Tommy says.

They nod. Tommy's wife walks up and hands them their uniforms, and the head to the back room to change. The adults are in one room and the kids are in another. Ten minutes later, Tommy's wife was impressed by how quickly everyone picked up the basics. She decided to have them spar each other. She puts Tracy and Chris against each other. They bow to each and Tommy's wife tells them to start. Two minutes later Tracy pinned her big brother to the mat.

"I told you that I would win again," Tracy says.

"Whatever, just let me up, but you won't be able to do that again." Chris says.

"Yes, I will." Tracy says.

Tracy lets him go. They start again. Chris throws a few quick punches, but Tracy dodges them. She grabs his wrist and flips him onto his back.

"I win again," Tracy says.

"You just got lucky," Chris says.

An hour later they leave to watch the kids. They arrive to see the kids breaking boards. Tommy bends down in front of Anthony. He holds it up in front of him. Anthony lets out his loudest Kiai. The board splits in half. Tommy hand the board back to him. He runs over to his mom.

"Mommy, did you see that?" Anthony asks.

"I sure did sweetie," Tracy says.

Tommy stands in front of Angela. Everyone hears people screaming like they're running away from a monster. Antonio looks over at his wife. He sees a worried look in her eyes.

"You want to go and investigate, don't you?" Antonio asks.

"Yes," Tracy says.

"Can I go too, sis?" Amelia says.

"No, little sis, it's too dangerous." Tracy says.

Ballade tells Tracy that she Chris and her father will watch the kids. Tracy nods. She and the other rangers leave to investigate. They arrive to see some foot soldier attacking the people.

"How did they get here?" Tracy asks.

"A better question would be what are they?" Ashley asks.

"Yeah, they don't look like moogers that's for sure." Mike says.

"I didn't think that there were any gaps here for them to escape through." Emily says.

"I guess that Octoroo is smarter that we thought," Mike says.

They lead the people to safety. Then they hear Octoroo's annoying laugh. They turn to their left and see his face.

"Hello rangers," Octoroo says.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Tracy says.

"I just wanted to stretch my legs. Since I couldn't escape the Sanzu River back in Paradorma city, I figured out how to open up a gap here. I also created some new friends from some leftover parts I found on an island," Octoroo says.

The foot soldiers walk over to Octoroo. He tells them to attack the Rangers. The rangers take out their morphers. They draw their symbols and activate them. They stand in their karate uniforms.

"How come we didn't morph?" Tracy asks.

"We could have crossed an evil barrier." Kevin says.

"I didn't see any when we were helping those people get to safety." Emily says.

"Do you think that we're just too old to be rangers?" Tracy says.

"No, we'll figure it out later. We've got a battle to fight." Jayden says.

The rangers try one more symbol. They summon their swords and charge towards the foot soldiers.


	16. First Karate Class Part 2

**AN: I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day last Monday. Please remember all who have served and those still serving our country. Freedom isn't free. We should thank them and be grateful that we live in a country where we are free to live the way we choose. We shouldn't just remember those people on Memorial day we should remember and honor them every day.**

**Anyway, enjoy the update. **

* * *

The rangers are up to their necks in moogers. They continue to cut their way through them. Octoroo laughs evilly since phase one of his evil scheme is going exactly the way he wanted. Meanwhile, at the karate school, the kids start to get bored waiting for their parents to come back.

"What is taking sissy so long?" Amelia asks.

"Yeah, they have been gone forever," Anastasia says.

"Calm down you two, they have only been gone for fifteen minutes," Ballade says.

"Mom, I'll be right back. I have to go to the bathroom." Amelia says.

Amelia leaves the group. She did go to the bathroom, but afterward she sneaks out the back entrance to go check on her big sister. Back at City hall, the rangers are so busy fighting they didn't notice that Octoroo had backed a safe distance away to watch the battle. They also didn't notice Amelia run up from the opposite direction. A few seconds later he sees that the seven-year-old Amelia.

_ Maybe this kid can help me get what I want from the silver ranger. _Octoroo thinks.

Octoroo whips his head back, his tentacles floating towards her. He is pleased to see the fear in Amelia's eyes as they came closer. The tentacles wrap around her waist. He pulls back towards him. Amelia tries to get free using a few of the karate skills she learned earlier. They didn't do a thing so she decides to scream hoping that if she made a lot of noises he would let her go.

"Sorry, little girl, that won't work," Octoroo says, with a slight chuckle.

The rangers are confused why a scream of terror would cause the moogers to stop attacking. Tracy recognized the scream was her little sister. She prayed that she was just hearing things since Amelia was back at the Karate school with the others. She turns her head to the left and sees Amelia being held captive by Octoroo.

"How did she find us?" Emily asks.

"I don't know, but if he hurts her. He'll see what happens when my material instincts get activated." Tracy snarls through her teeth.

"Sissy, Ayúdame, por favor," Amelia shouts wobbly.

= Samurai First's =

Back at the Karate school, Angela looks around to see that her sister hasn't come back yet. She walks over to her mom.

"Mom, how come Amelia isn't back yet?" Angela asks.

"I don't know, honey, but I'll go check on her. You stay here." Ballade says.

Angela nods. Ballade leaves the room, walks down the hallway to the bathroom and opens the door carefully so she wouldn't hit Amelia if she was behind it. She didn't see any feet under any of the stalls. Her maternal instincts kicked in immediately as she quickly turns around to run back to the others. As she enters the room Fiarce sees his wife's face. Her face is slackened and her brows furrowed along with her glassy blue eyes. He quickly walks up to her and places his hand on her shoulder. He also can see tears beginning to build up in her eyes as well.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"Sweetheart, it's terrible. I think that Amelia ran off to go see Tracy." Ballade says wobbly.

"Honey, relax if she did. I know that Tracy wouldn't let anything bad happen to her."

"I know, but I don't know why she would do something like this it's not like her," Ballade says, in the same tone.

= Samurai First's =

Back at the battle, Tracy clenches her sword angrily. Antonio looks over at his wife. He sees her eyebrows are pulled down together, her eyes are wide open, glaring at Octoroo, and her lips are tightly closed with the red margins of the lips becoming narrower, which made them become much thinner than usual. Antonio didn't like that expression he is seeing at all. Honestly, he was scared stiff.

"Listen to me. Octoroo, let my sister go right now, or you'll be sorry." Tracy snaps.

"Don't worry silver ranger I will, but you have to show me that seal symbol you use when you were a ranger, first," Octoroo orders.

"What makes you think that I even remember how to write it after all these years?"

"You better remember fast if you don't want to see her get turned into a kabob." Octoroo threatens.

The group watches as he tightens his grasp on Amelia. Tracy gets even angrier hearing little sister scream in pain. Then they see a spit fang appear next to him. Octoroo swings Amelia over to a building and holds her a few inches away from the wall. The Spit fang opens its mouth and is ready to release a fireball.

_I know I can't let Amelia get hurt. If I show Octoroo the symbol she'll be safe, but the whole world would in danger. If I don't show him my little will get hurt, but the world would be safe. I don't know what to do; this is the toughest decision I've ever had to make ever since the battle ended four years ago. _ Tracy thinks.

Tracy's thoughts are interrupted when she hears Amelia scream again. She sees a fireball flying towards her. Tracy wants to swear so bad but refrains since her little sister would hear her. She runs over to her as fast as she can. She raises her sword high ready to slash through whatever appeared in front of her. A group of moogers suddenly appear in front of her.

"Get out of my way, before you have to taste my blade," Tracy says.

The moogers just walk forward like they are willing to get destroyed. Tracy didn't mind and starts to slash her way through them. When she cuts one down three more appear. Tracy looks up to see the fireball is a foot away from hitting her little sister. She sees Amelia close her in fear so she wouldn't see it hit her. Tracy feels her heart stop for a minute because she was upset that she couldn't save her. Suddenly, she feels her sword being taken out of her hand. Then she sees a streak of green, the person who took her sword was visible a few seconds later. He deflects the fireball back towards the spit fang. It was destroyed, but Octoroo had moved away to prevent himself from being caught in the blast when it explodes. The man turns around; he artfully with effortless arm motions cuts Amelia free. He drops the sword to the ground and catches Amelia in his arms.

"You can open your eyes now little girl, the fireball is gone. You're safe," the man says.

Amelia slowly opens her eyes and sees who saved her. She sees his short black hair, his dark eyes and kind and gentle smile. She gives him a hug. The man hugs her back. The hug lasts for a few seconds before she lets him go. He put her down. Amelia turns to her left.

"Thank you for saving me, mister." Amelia says.

"You're welcome, my name is Cam. What's your name," Cam says

"Amelia and my big sister might be mad at you since you took her sword." Amelia says.

Antonio runs over to her and slices all the moogers destroying them.

"Thanks for the assist honey." Tracy says.

"No problem, we are a team after all." Antonio says.

= Samurai First's =

Tracy runs over to them. Cam picks Tracy's sword and hands it back to her. Tracy happily accepts it. Tracy looks down at Amelia, and sees her little sister's face. Her eyes are wide and the upper lids raised, her brows are drawn together. Her lips are stretched horizontally. Tracy concluded that she was scared. She decides to talk to her later and turns her attention back to Cam.

"Hi, I'm Cam. It's nice to meet you, so you're her big sister." Cam says.

"Yes, I'm Tracy. It's nice to meet you too Cam. Thank you for saving Amelia. I owe you one. Also, the next time you want to borrow my sword. Please ask first," Tracy says.

"Sure thing and you're welcome. I'm glad that I was able to get here in time." Cam says.

"Amelia, we'll talk more about this later. Right now I have you back and help the others. Cam, could you keep an eye on her for me." Tracy says

"Yes, she'll be safe with me." Cam says.

Tracy nods and runs back over to the others. She sees them defeat the last army of mooger. She gets into her spot next to Antonio.

"You got lucky silver ranger. Next time you won't have someone around to help you then you'll have to show me that symbol. Octoroo taunts.

He turns around and escapes through a gap. Tracy whips out her morpher and wants to draw the symbol. She knows that is exactly what he expects her to do, and just tosses her sword into the air. She draws a different symbols and it disappears a few seconds after she activates it. Then everyone walks over to Amelia.

"Everyone this is Cam," Tracy says.

"It's nice to meet all of you." Cam says politely.

"Where did you come from anyway?" Mike asks.

"I live in Blue Bay Harbor, but I can here to visit a friend. I overheard people talking about an attack at city hall, so I decided to investigate." Cam explains.

"We are lucky that you decided to come," Emily says.

"Yes, so who taught you how to use a sword like that?" Kevin asks curiously.

"I don't know if you'd believe me, but I used to be a ranger." Cam says.

"Really, what color were you?" Mike asks skeptically, while raising his eyebrow slightly.

"I was the green ranger of my team," Cam says.

"Sweet, I'm a green ranger too." Mike says.

"Maybe you could show me some of your moves." Cam says.

"Sure, that would be awesome, but you have to show those moves you used back there." Mike says eagerly.

"Guys, could we focus on the bigger problem. Amelia, what were you thinking? You could have gotten hurt or worse." Tracy says sternly.

"I was worried about you. I just wanted to be a hero like you." Amelia says wobbly.

Amelia looks down at the ground. Tracy steps closer to her, bends down to be at her sister's level and puts her hand on Amelia's shoulder. She was upset, but knew that yelling at her was just going to make things worse. She mentally calms herself down before speaking again.

"Amelia, please look at me." Tracy says calmly.

Amelia slowly left her head up till she was looking at her big sister's face. Tracy can see tears starting to form in Amelia's eyes. She uses her free hand to fix Amelia's hair. A few seconds later she watches the tears begin to fall from Amelia's eyes. She quickly and gently wipes them away.

"Amelia, hermanita, please stop crying. I am upset that you didn't listen to me when I told you to stay at the school. I know that your heart was in the right place. I'm sure that you learned an important lesson today."

"Yeah, that sneaking out is wrong." Amelia says.

"Yes, and that mom and I really love you a lot. When either of us tell you to stay put, we are just looking out for you and want you to be safe."

"I'm sorry sissy. You probably never want to hang out with me anymore, right?" Amelia asks in a sad tone.

"Amelia, I love hanging out with you and Angela. I get to tell you girls everything I learned growing up."

Tracy takes her hand off Amelia's shoulder. A few seconds later Amelia gives her a big hug. She hugs her back. The hug lasts for a minute till Amelia starts to hug her a little bit tighter than before.

"Hermanita, I know you're sorry about what you did. Could you please loosen your grip, I can't breathe." Tracy gasps.

Amelia didn't hear her big sister and continues to squeeze her even tighter. Antonio watches as his wife's face slowly starts to turn blue. Since Cam was the closest to her. He is able to out his right arm in between Tracy and Amelia. He separates them by pulling Amelia away quickly but gently. Amelia unclasps her hands enough so Cam could pick her up. Tracy coughs a few times before she was able to breathe normally again. Then she gets to her feet. She moves too fast a sudden dizzy spell hits her. Antonio zips over to her in time to catch her in his arms before she hits the cement. He helps her stand up. They watch as Tracy slowly shakes off the dizzy spell.

"Are you okay, honey?" Antonio asks.

"Yes, sweetie, I'm fine. I just moved a little too quick that's all." Tracy answers.

Cam put Amelia down on the sidewalk next to him. She walks over to her sister and takes a hold of her hand. Tracy looks down at her.

"Sissy, is mom going to be mad at me?" Amelia asks.

"Oh yeah, but first she'll be really happy that you're safe. Then she'll give you the look," Tracy answers honestly.

Tracy knew that her mom would like to see the person who saved Amelia. She was going to ask Cam to come back to the school with them. He tells them that he was needed somewhere else and had to leave. They say goodbye to him and start the walk back to the karate school.

= Samurai First's =

Ten minutes later they arrive at the school, and the group walks inside. Amelia lets go of Tracy's hand. She slowly walks up to her mom. Ballade hugs her and kisses her several times. The happiness and relief she felt knowing that she was safe go away as she shifts gears to get ready to calmly yet sternly tell her daughter about what she did was wrong. Amelia sees the stern look on her mom's face and starts to get really scared.

"Amelia, what were you thinking young lady? I was worried sick about you," Ballade says sternly.

"I was worried about Tracy. I wanted to make sure that she was okay." Amelia answers.

"I know your heart was in the right place, but that was a very dangerous. You could have gotten hurt," Ballade adds.

"I'm sorry mom. I just wanted to be brave and a warrior like Tracy." Amelia says tearfully.

"Amelia, honey…" Ballade says.

Ballade sees Tracy walking up. Tracy takes her place next to her. She nods to her, letting her know that she had her permission to take over the conversation.

"I didn't get to tell you this earlier. Amelia, listen, a real warrior doesn't go looking for trouble. They also trust their instincts when they say to stay away when something is too dangerous." Tracy says.

"I guess I wasn't really good at listening to mine, huh?" Amelia says.

"Well, today you weren't, but as you get older is gets easier." Tracy says.

"Tracy, I know that you're not afraid of anything." Amelia adds.

"That's not true hermanita, everyone has fears. I was really scared out there on the battlefield today. If something bad had happened to you. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself." Tracy says.

"I didn't get hurt or turned into a human kabob. Cam saved me, remember?" Amelia says confidently.

"I know that and I told him twice how grateful I was for what he did. You need to understand that things won't work out like that every time. Please, promise me that you won't do anything like this ever again." Tracy says sternly.

"I won't, I promise," Amelia says.

"Good, we'll be heading back the house soon." Tracy says, with a smile.

Amelia walks closer to her.

"I love you Tracy, you're the best big sister ever," Amelia says, as she gives her a hug. "I want to be just like you when I grow up."

"I love you too Hermanita," Tracy says, as she hugs her back.

Amelia hugs her as tight as she did earlier after the battle with Octoroo. Ballade pulls them apart because she sees her middle child is about to faint. A few seconds later Tracy's face turned back to its normal appearance.

"Thanks mom," Tracy says.

"You're welcome," Ballade says.

Everyone but Amelia and Ballade leaves the room to change. She was put in a time out to think about what she did. Seven minutes later she was allowed to leave to go change. Afterwards, everyone heads to the door. Tommy follows them out.

"I was going to head to the cybercafé to meet up one of my friends from grad school. You are welcome to join me." Tommy says.

"That sounds great, thank you for inviting us. A cup a green tea would hit the spot." Tracy says.

"Good, just follow me." Tommy says.

"Okay," Tracy says.

= Samurai First's =

Ten minutes later they pull into the parking lot of the cybercafé. After they parked everyone gets out their vehicles. They walk inside the building. The kids' eyes light up seeing the video games and computers along the walls. The owner walks up to them. She has long red hair and light blue eyes. Anthony walks up to her. Hayley bends down to pick him up after he made the motion with his hands.

"Hi, really pretty lady, this place is so cool," Anthony says.

"Thank you sweetie, the teenagers that live here love hanging out here. I'm Hayley Ziktor the owner, it's nice to meet all of you." Hayley says.

"Hi, Hayley, it's nice to meet you too. I'm Tracy Garcia and this is my husband Antonio. You've already met our son Anthony." Tracy says.

"Yes, I take it that your husband is very sweet and loves to make people smile." Hayley says.

"Yes, he does." Tracy says.

"Anthony is just like him." Hayley compliments.

"I know, so I'm not looking forward to when he is a teenager." Tracy says.

"Why mommy," Anthony asks.

"Because you'll be a chick magnet," Tracy says.

Tracy introduces Hayley to her friends and their kids

"Dad, can you show me how that game?" Mason asks, pointing at the 'Galaxy defender' game.

"Sure, buddy." Mike says.

Mason happily drags his dad over to the game. Anastasia pulls his father over to the computer, so he could type the website address to her favorite site -Neopets. Antonio signs her in and Anastasia takes the mouse from him. She feeds her Kougra she named Kai.

"Honey, remember, your mom and I have set a limit on how long you can stay online." Antonio says.

"I know dad." Anastasia says.

Antonio walks back over to the group. He sees Amelia's eyes light up when she sees the stage. She grabs Tracy's and his hand and drags them over to the stage. They stand their ground before they were a few inches away from it.

"What's the rush hermanita," Tracy asks curiously.

"There is this great stage. I thought you two could sing, please. You two sound really good together." Amelia answers.

"True, but I don't think our new friends want to hear us sing." Tracy says.

Amelia lets go of their hands. They look over at her to see Amelia making her best puppy dog face. Tracy shakes her head disapprovingly and regretting that she taught her how to do make that face. She never thought her little sister would be using it against her.

"Pretty please, sissy." Amelia says, making her bottom lip quiver.

Tracy didn't give into that look when one of their children used it. She knew how determined her little sister is Amelia isn't going to stop until she says yes.

"Okay Amelia," Tracy sighs, "We'll do it. One more thing, you won't be able to rely on that look forever. It has limitations,"

"I know mom said the exact same thing." Amelia says.

Amelia goes back over to the others. Anastasia overhears that her parents are going to sing. She signs off of Neopets and shuts the computer down. Tracy and Antonio climb onto the stage. They look over towards the computers and see their daughter back over to the others. They smile proudly that Anastasia was able to realize that she had reached her screen time limit and logged off by herself without having Antonio go over to tell her to turn the computer off. Tracy puts her iPod into the new karaoke machine Hayley bought a few days ago. She searches though her playlist she made with all her child friendly songs. She hits play, picks up the microphone and hands Antonio the microphone that was in her right hand. "Everyday" from High School Musical 2 starts playing through the machine.

Tracy and Antonio hear their kids cheer loudly hearing one of their favorite songs playing. Antonio starts to sing his part. Tracy sings her part and takes hold of his hand when her part ends. They sing the chorus perfectly. They start to dance around the stage during the second verse. The other rangers join in at the last chorus just like it happened in the movie. After the songs ends Antonio gives his microphone back to Tracy. She goes back over to the machine and presses stop. Then she walks back over to Antonio. They hop off the stage and go over to the group.

"I told you that my mom is the greatest singer ever." Anastasia says proudly.

"Anastasia, you know it's not polite to brag." Tracy scolds.

"Mom, I'm not bragging, it's the truth." Anastasia argues.

"Honey, I'm aware that I have a good voice. There are a lot of people who have a voice even prettier than mine." Tracy says.

"Who's next?" Lauren asks.

= Samurai First's =

They hear the door swing open, so they turn their attention to it. Everyone sees a girl with shoulder length dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. She is wearing the same green dress she wore to the class reunion a year ago and is also carrying her acoustic guitar on her back. She walks up to the group.

"Who is she anyway?" Anastasia asks.

"She was one of my students at Reefside High." Tommy says.

"Hi, I'm Kira Ford, so Dr. O, how have you been?" Kira asks.

"Great, I teach Karate classes over the summer. This year's freshman class was a handful. The last time I heard from you. You said that you sent a demo to Young Ghost Life Entertainment." Tommy says.

"I did and they called me yesterday. The boss said that he loved my latest song and wants me to go see him Friday to sign a contract." Kira says happily.

"That's great, congratulations." Tommy says.

"Mom, can I sing next?" Anastasia asks.

"Ana, you can go after Kira. I think she wanted to go first." Tracy says.

"Okay, I can wait till she is done." Anastasia says.

"Well, Mrs. Garcia you have raised a very polite young lady." Kira says.

"Thank you Kira, I'm glad that means that I am doing a good job as her mom." Tracy says proudly.

"I hope that I'll be able to top the performance that you and your husband just put on. You two have set the bar really high." Kira adds.

"I know mom and dad are great singers." Anastasia agrees.

Kira walks over to the stage, and climbs onto it. She tunes her guitar and starts to play "Freak You Out". Everyone is getting into the music. They didn't see Anthony and Mason zip over to the stage. He climbs onto it. They stand a few feet away, and start to dance. Mason did a few moves his dad showed him a few days ago. Anthony mimics his new friend's moves perfectly.

"It looks like Kira has some new fans." Hayley says.

"Yes, and they're pretty good dancers." Tommy says.

"Tracy, don't you think that we should stop them?" Emily asks.

"Yes, but I can't bring myself to do it. They are having so much fun," Tracy answers honestly.

When she finishes singing the boys stop dancing. They walk over to her. Kira bends down to be at their level.

"Can you sing one more song, please, pretty lady?" Anthony asks.

"Yeah, please." Mason adds.

"Sorry boys, but Anastasia wanted to go next." Kira says.

"Okay," They say sadly.

Kira stands up. Anthony takes hold of Kira's right hand. He pulls her off the stage. They walk over to the group. Anthony looks up at his mom with a big smile on his face.

"Mom, I have a girlfriend. Isn't she pretty?" Anthony says.

"Yes, sweetie, but there is just one problem?" Tracy says.

"What is it?" Anthony asks confused.

"She is too old for you." Tracy says.

Anthony lets go of Kira's hand sadly. Anastasia tugs at the shirt of her dress.

"How Miss Ford, could you play your guitar while I sing?" Anastasia asks.

"Anastasia, you can call me Kira. I would love to accompany you." Kira asks.

They walk up to the stage. Kira gets on first and helps Anastasia get on. She gets down at her level. Anastasia whispers the song into her ear. Kira whispers back to her how they are going to sing it before she stands up. She turns her guitar and starts to play "Let It Go". Anastasia starts to sing after Kira nods to her.

Anastasia hops down from the stage after she finished singing. She runs over to her mom. She asks, "Mom, how did I do?"

"You were great honey." Tracy says.

Kira gets off the stage too, and goes back over to the group. She set her guitar on the table closest to her.

"Sissy, can we sing a song as a family?" Amelia asks.

"That could be fun hermanita, but I don't know if everyone wants to hear your big brother sing." Tracy says.

"Hey, I'm a great singer." Chris snaps defending himself.

"Sure you are bro," Tracy says sarcastically.

Tracy, Chris, and the triplets go over to the stage. Tracy goes over to the karaoke machine. She puts her iPod on it again. She finds a good song and picks "We are Family" The Alvin and the Chipmunks version and presses play. She walks back over to her family. Amelia and Angela sing the first verse. Tracy, Amelia and Angela sing the first part of the chorus. Chris and Antonio James sing the second part. Antonio James sings the second verse. The group sings the chorus again. Everyone cheers and claps loudly when the song ends. They take a bow. Everyone except for Tracy hop off the stage. Ashley walks up to her best friend.

"Let me guess, you want us to sing a song together?" Tracy asks.

Ashley nods. Tracy helps her on the stage. She goes back over to her iPod to pick a new song. She pressed play and walks back over to her best friend. "Better in Stereo" plays and the women start to sing in perfect harmony. When the song ends, they walk back over to the group after Tracy got her iPod off the karaoke machine.

"How about we take a break?" Emily asks.

"Sounds good," Tracy says happily.

= Samurai First's =

The parents order some smoothies for their kids. The kids sit down at a table close enough so their parents can keep an eye on them. The parents sit at the bar. The samurai rangers order some green tea. Tommy gets a cup of coffee. Kira gets an apple juice.

"That was fun," Tracy says.

"I couldn't agree more," Ashley agrees.

"Tracy, have you heard anything from Zechariah, lately?" Kevin asks.

"Who is Zechariah?" Kira adds.

"He is my cousin. No, I haven't gotten a letter or a phone call in a month. I'm starting to get worried." Tracy answers honestly.

Hayley looks up from the cash register. She sees a man in a blue dress Army uniform. The man's uniform is decorated with several metals. The man looks over at the kids. The triplets along with Anastasia are about to shout his name. He puts his index finger over his lips telling them to be quiet. They nod and go back to drinking their smoothies. He looks back over at the bar, and walks over to it.

"Is Zechariah in the Army?" Hayley asks.

Tracy nearly chokes on her last sip of tea. She sets her cup down on the counter. She slowly turns around on her stool. She sees her cousin and tries her best to hold back her tears of joy. She gets up and casually walks up to him.

"Zechariah, what are you doing here?" Tracy asks.

"I'll tell you after I get a hug." Zechariah answers with a sly smile.

Tracy chuckles. She steps closer to give her cousin a big hug. The tears of joy slowly escape from her eyes. As they back away Tracy wipes her tears away and stand far enough apart to give the kids room to fit between them.

"Are you going to fill me in, or what?" Tracy says.

"Right, two days ago I asked my commander to give me a two week leave." Zechariah says.

"In other words, the kids get a chance to spend some time with you."

= Samurai First's =

Zechariah nods. They turn to face the table the kids are sitting at. The triplets and the Garcia kids get up from the table. The triplets and Anastasia are about to tackle him to the floor. Tracy stops them by using her right arm as a barricade.

"We want to hug him too, sissy." Amelia says.

"I'm aware of that hermanita, but there is a difference between tackling someone and giving them a hug." Tracy says.

Tracy lowers her arm. Zechariah bends down to make it easier for them to hug him. After they let him go Zechariah stands up to see Anthony hiding behind Tracy. The two- year-old peaks his head out.

"Mom, who is the Army man," Anthony asks.

"He is your cousin sweetie." Tracy answers.

"Is he fun like Alejandro?" Anthony asks.

"Yes, I am buddy." Zechariah says proudly.

Anthony smile and steps to his left. Tracy takes a few steps back after he gets in between them. Anthony makes the motions with his hands, telling Zechariah, he wants him to pick him up. The soldier smiles and happily picks him up. He starts to tickle Anthony. Tracy smiles watching the cute scene unfolding in front of her as Anthony starts to squirm and giggle. Two minutes pass and Tracy can tell that her son is getting upset.

"Zechariah, I think you should stop. He has had enough," Tracy says.

Zechariah stops and puts him down. The triplets, Anastasia and Anthony go back over to the other kids. They sit down at the table. Tracy and her cousin walk over to the bar. Tracy introduces Hayley, Tommy and Kira to her cousin. They sit down after Zechariah orders himself a caramel latte.

"So, cuz, what's new with you?" Zechariah asks.

"Antonio and I along with his parents went to a realtor today to sign the papers we needed to buy the new house." Tracy says.

"I won't be going back till October, so I'll be able to help you move when the time comes." Zechariah says.

"Thank you cuz, I'll call you when we get the news that we can move in." Tracy says.

"Okay," Zechariah says.

"Honey, don't you think that you should tell your parents and Zechariah about that phone call you received from Pasadena veterinary school," Antonio says.

"What did they say honey?" Fiarce asks.

"I got accepted," Tracy says.

"That's great cuz congratulations." Zechariah says.

"Yes, Tracy, we are so proud of you." Ballade adds.

"Mom, I think you two should wait to say that till I graduate." Tracy says modestly.

"Sis, have you registered Anastasia for preschool yet?" Chris asks.

"No, I haven't yet. I don't want the school super attendant getting mad at me if we don't move." Tracy says.

"That's a good point honey, but I have a feeling that you aren't too happy about Anastasia starting school." Ballade says.

"Right as usual mom. How did you and dad handle it when you had to drop Chris and I off at Preschool? If I say that I don't want her to go am I a bad mom?" Tracy asks honestly.

"Tracy, you're not a terrible mom. Every parent has those when they have to let their first child go." Ballade says.

"Yes, angel, we are lucky that you two were very independent. You two just walked in the classroom without a care in the world." Fiarce adds.

"Do you think that Anastasia will do the same thing?" Tracy asks.

"It's a possibility, but you won't know until that day comes." Ballade says.

The group talks for a while till everyone decides to head back to the house for dinner. They say goodbye to Hayley, Tommy and Kira. They gather up the kids and walk back out to the parking lot. They pull out and drive back to the house.


	17. Kids First Trip To The Tengen Gate

Chapter 17: Kids First Trip to the Tengen Gate

The next morning the parents and Zechariah are sitting in the living room. Antonio looks over his shoulder, and sees his wife starting to nod off. He gently nudges her right arm. Tracy quickly opens her eyes and wipes the sleep from them.

"Sorry, everyone, but why couldn't have we done this - I don't know when the sun is up." Tracy says.

"I agree with her. I don't function well before sunrise either." Ashley adds.

"I'm sorry you two, but I want to discuss where we are going today. I think we need to go visit the Tengen gate." Jayden says seriously.

"Why are we going there?" Emily asks.

"I know we need to tell the kids about the battle against Master Xandred, but we don't have to go to the Tengen Gate to do it." Kevin adds.

"I think it's time we turn in morphers and zords. I believe that the guardians are the best people to keep them safe." Jayden says.

"It makes sense; it's been three years since the battle ended." Antonio says.

"Good point Antonio," Mia says.

"Good, since we all agree to the trip. I'm going to go back to bed now," Tracy says.

"Cuz, sunrise is in ten minutes." Zechariah says.

"I know Zechariah, but I need as much sleep as I can get before the kids wake up." Tracy says.

A few seconds later, the group hears the soft clicking sound of Luna's claws as she walks down the hallway. The puppy walks in and sets the leash down on the coffee table. Then she sits down in front of it happily wagging her tail. Everyone chuckles softly.

"I guess you want to go on your morning walk, huh girl?" Antonio asks.

Luna walks up to him. She places her front paws on his knees and licks his right hand. Then walks back over to the table and picks up the leash. She goes back over to him and sets it in front of him. Antonio picks it up and clips it to her collar. Then stands up and walks out of the room.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Zechariah asks.

Antonio turns to face him before he says, "Not at all, let's go."

Zechariah smiles get up from his chair and walks over to Antonio. They leave the house while everyone else went back to their rooms. Tracy walks to her and Antonio's room. She quickly opens the door and it swings inward towards the wall. She remembers that she didn't want to wake the kids. She reaches out and takes hold of the knob right before it slams against the wall and silently closes it behind her. She walks over to her side of the bed, takes off her glasses and places them on the night stand. She flops back down on it and falls back to sleep.

Meanwhile, in the city, the men are enjoying the crisp morning air walking Luna. They haven't said a word since they left the house. The silence is starting to drive Zechariah crazy. He clears his throat before he says, "Does Tracy even want me to be here?"

"Of course she does. Tracy grew up with go having to leave to go overseas. I think she is afraid that all the memories you make with the kids while you're here will be the only one's they'll have." Antonio says honestly.

_That is a good point they are very young and explaining death to them will be difficult. _Zechariah thinks.

Back at the house, in the room Anastasia, Jade and Madison are sharing, Anastasia wakes up. She gets out of bed. The Octozord turn on and flies over to Anastasia. It lands on her shoulder, and then she walks out of the room. She looks down the hall to see Anthony walking down the hall carrying the snow leopard zord.

"Come on sissy, let's go wake up mom." Anthony says.

Anastasia nods and they head to their parents' room. Inside Tracy and Antonio's room, the sun rays stream in through the window. Tracy moans when they hit her face. She grabs the pillow from Antonio's side of the bed and uses it to block them. A few seconds later she hears the door open and the chirping sound as the Octozord flies in. Anastasia leaps and snags it out of the air.

"Shh, Octo, you'll make up mom." Anastasia whispers.

Anastasia walks over to the nightstand where her mom put her glasses and put the zord down next to them. Then she walks over to the foot of the bed. She jumps and land on top of the folded sheet. She climbs down and sits on the comforter. Anthony let the leopard zord leap onto the bed before jumping up. He tries to mimic his big sister. He didn't jump high enough and grabs to edge quickly to stop himself from falling. The sheet slides off the bed. Anthony lands on his butt. Anastasia lies down on her stomach and looks down at her little brother. She sees a few tears starting to form in his eyes.

"Shh, little brother, don't cry, you're okay." Anastasia whispers.

Anthony wipes the tears away. He stands up and sets the blanket down on the floor get to him. He walks over to his sister. She holds out her hand and he takes a hold of it. Anastasia pulls him up onto the bed. They walk over their mom and start jumping up and down. Tracy takes the pillow away and put it on to the floor. She opens her eyes and sits up in the bed. She puts her glasses back on, gets out of bed and walks over to her kids.

"We did it," Anthony cheers.

"Yeah, mom is awake," Anastasia adds.

"Yes, so you can stop jumping up on the bed." Tracy says.

The kids listen to their mom and sit down on the bed. The Snow Leopard walks over to the end table and leaps up on it. Then it picks up Tracy's glasses in its mouth. It goes back over to Tracy. She takes her glasses out of its mouth and puts them on.

"Okay, how about you go back to your room and change?"

They nod and hop down onto the floor. The Octozord goes back over to Anastasia. She jumps up to grab it out of the air. Anthony picks up his zord. Then they go back to their rooms. Tracy goes over to the dresser. She takes out a horizontal striped T-shirt, a pair of bright blue ripped denim shorts, and a pair of studded metallic leather high tops.

She opens the door to see her kids standing on the other side. Anastasia is wearing a pair of jeans with stars on the upper left thigh and more stars on the right leg above the right foot, a pink T-shirt with flutter sleeves with stars on it too, and a pair Brown/Pink Mid-Calf Western Boot. Anthony is wearing a T-shirt that says 'Mom's Little Hero', a pair of cargo shorts, and a black pair of Velcro shoes. She smiles seeing the Leopard Zord sitting on Anthony's shoulder. She steps into the hallway and closed the door behind her. They walk down the hall, when they reach the end Tracy hears Luna's approaching footsteps. Then the group sees Antonio and Zechariah.

"Good morning dad," Anastasia greets.

"Good morning, sweetie," Antonio says.

Anthony looks over at Zechariah and says, "Good morning, Army Man,"

Zechariah chuckles before he bends down and picks him up. Anthony gives him a big hug. Zechariah hugs him back. He lets Anthony go and they continue to the kitchen. Before they enter the room he puts Anthony down. The kids sit down at the table. While the parents except for Tracy gather around the island in front of the sink. She went over to the cabinet, takes out three boxes of cereal, Coco Puffs, Trix and Cheerios. She closes it and opens the cabinet next to it and takes out enough bowls for the kids. She closes it and opens the drawer to get the spoons. She goes over to the table and sets the bowls, spoons and cereal on it near the middle of the table. The kids set the zords down on the table. They pass the bowls and spoons around till everyone had one. Anastasia picks up the box of Trix and pours it into her bowl.

"Does anyone else want some?" Anastasia asks.

"I do," Jade says.

"Me too," Mason says.

Anastasia passed the box the Jade. She filled her bowl and hands the box to Mason. After he filled his bowl, he puts the box down in the middle of the table. Ashton filled his bowl with Coco Puffs, while Jake and Madison filled their bowls with Cheerios. Then Tracy set the carton of milk down on the table and they passed it around. Jade sets it back down on the table and starts eating.

Jayden, Zechariah, Tracy and Antonio had cereal like the kids. Kevin decided to eat oatmeal, Ashley had a western omelet with hash browns. Emily and Mia had scrambled eggs with toast. Ten minutes later, everyone finished eating the kids get up from the table. They pick up the zords and walk over to their parents.

"Why are going to the Tengen Gate, Dad?" Jade asks.

"Well, sweetie, we decided it was time to put our morphers and zord into storage." Jayden answers.

"No," Ashton and Anthony shout.

Anastasia looks down at the Octozord. It chirps twice and she sets it go. She watches as it circles around her three times before landing on her head. She chuckles before reaching up to take it off. She gives it a big goodbye hug. Then she looks back up at her parents.

"Mom, are we ever going to see them again?" Anastasia asks.

"Of course sweetie, we'll visit the Tengen Gate again in a few years. We'll leave in twenty minutes, so can you put your bowl in the sink please." Tracy answers.

Anastasia nods. She walks back over to the table and the others follow behind her. They set the zord down again, so they can pick up their cereal bowls. They walk over to the sink and take turn stepping onto the step stool to put them into the sink.

They go back over to the table. The leopard, lion, bear and ape zords jump into the air. Jade and Anthony catch them in midair. Mason catches the bear zord in his hands. He lets the ape grab onto his right wrist, and then walk up his arm to sit on his shoulder. The parents smile seeing the kids playing with the zords. They put their dishes in the sink.

"I'll wash the dishes. It's a long walk to the Tengen Gate." Ji says.

"Thanks JI," Jayden says.

"Dad, wasn't Aunt Lauren a red ranger too?" Jade asks.

"Yes, I was sweetie, so you're going to need my morpher also," Lauren says.

Jade's eye light up hearing her Aunt's voice, so she quickly turns around. She runs up to her seeing her standing in the doorway. Lauren picks up her niece and walk over to the others.

"Dad, you said the Jayden was the red ranger when you fought the Master Xandred?" Anthony says.

"I was being the red ranger only till Lauren mastered the sealing symbol." Jayden says.

"Where was she?" Madison asks.

"I was hiding in a secret place outside the city." Lauren answers.

"Why didn't you stay with dad?" Jade asks.

"Yeah, you could have taught it to him too, so you had a backup plan." Anastasia says.

"Families are supposed to stick together," Madison adds.

"That's true, but that was all part of his plan honey. He wanted Lauren to be a secret so when she showed up the nighlok would be surprised." Jayden says.

"How about we head out," Tracy suggests.

"Can Army Man come with us, too," Anthony asks.

"What do you say, Zechariah, would you like to come?" Tracy asks.

"Sure," Zechariah answers.

"Yeah," Anthony cheers.

"What about Luna, mom, is she coming too?" Anastasia asks.

"Yes," Tracy answers.

The group heads off to the Tengen Gate. Ten minutes later, the kids start to complain that their feet hurt. Jade walks over to Tracy and asks, "Anastasia's mom, can I ride on your shoulders?"

Tracy turns around to face her best friend and says, " Is it okay with you Ashtree?"

"It's okay with me, t-dwag," Ashley asks.

Tracy turns back around and picks up Jade. She puts her on her shoulders.

"Why do you call mom, Ashtree?" Jade asks.

"That's the nickname; I gave her when we were kids." Tracy asks.

Ashley walks up to her. She sees that Anastasia is riding on Ashley's shoulders.

"How old were you mom?" Anastasia asks.

"That's a good question, sweetie. I can't remember," Tracy answers.

"I think we were in second grade," Ashley says.

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Tracy says.

Mike walks up to them with Mason on his shoulders.

"Can we race the rest of the way?" Mason asks.

_Like father, like son. _Tracy thinks.

Emily walks up and says, "Sorry buddy, it's not safe."

"Aw, man," He and Mike exclaim.

They continue down the path. Another ten minutes pass, before they reach the gate. The parents take the kids off of their shoulders and set them down on the ground. They walk up to the gate and bow before walking through. The kids mimic their parents and walk through it too.

They walk to the monument commemorating when the first samurai team battled the nighlok army. Jayden tells the story about the battle. They look back down the path and see Daisuke walking up.

"Who is that old man, mom?" Ashton asks.

"Ashton, that was very rude." Jayden scolds.

"It's fine, Jayden, I'm Daisuke the elder Guardian." Daisuke says.

"Thank you again for doing this," Jayden says.

"You're welcome," Daisuke says.

Daisuke guides them to the same room where he gave the rangers the black box. They walk in the room to see another guardian holding a big box in his hands. He walks to the middle of the room and sets it down. The kids walk up to it.

"Bye, bear and ape zord," Mason says.

He places the bear zord in the top right hand corner of the box. Then he takes the ape off of his shoulder and puts it next to the bear zord. Jake and Madison hug the zords on last time before they put the turtle and dragon zord in the top left hand corner. Ashton places the lion zord in the middle of the box. Jade puts the owl zord next to the lion zord. Anastasia and Anthony put their zords in the bottom left hand corner. Lauren unclips Luna's collar. She walks up to the kids with a circular box in her mouth. She puts her front paws on it and sets it inside before walking back over to Lauren. The parents walk up to them holding their morphers. Lauren hands Luna's leash to Daisuke, before joining the others. Jade turns around and looks up at Lauren.

"Aunt Lauren, can I put grandpa's morpher in the box?" Jade asks.

"Of course you can sweetie," Lauren says.

Lauren hands the morpher to her. She smiles seeing her niece holding the morpher remembering the day when she got the morpher. Jade turns back around and put it in the box. The parents place their morphers in the box. The kids turn around to face their parents.

"Dad, I think we forgot the lightzord." Anastasia says.

"Actually, sweetie, your mom and I thought that we can keep the lightzord. Since it can blend it as a normal lantern," Antonio says.

"What about the power discs," Jake asks.

Daisuke nods the guardian. He walks over to the table behind him and picks a wooden box similar to the one the black box was in. He goes back over to the group and hands it to Jayden.

"Thank you," Jayden says.

Jayden opens it and places his powers discs inside. The parents take turns places their discs in the box. Ashley puts her owl disc in on top of Jayden's. Mike puts his discs in and Jade sees he has the beetle disc.

"Why does Mason's dad have the beetle disk? I thought it was yours dad?" Jade asks.

"Mom gave it to him," Madison says.

"Why?" Mason adds.

"After I got the disc from Ji, we battled a nighlok. After Mike defeated it using his symbol power, I realized that he could use the disc's powers better than I could." Mia explains.

Emily puts her disc in next, Mia and Kevin out theirs in too. Antonio puts his in and looks over at Tracy. He is confused when he sees her only put her leopard disc in the box.

"What about the penguin disc?" Anastasia asks.

Tracy reaches into her pocket again. She takes out the disc, but Luna runs up to her. The puppy barks loudly, startling her. She drops the disc and it rolls along the floor. Luna starts chasing after it. The disc rolls under the table, hit the wall and falls to the floor. Luna lies down and stretches her front right legs and tries to get the disc by scratching at it. After a few tries, she finally gets the disc close enough to her so she can pick it up. She picks it up and walks back over to Tracy. She puts it down in front of her feet. Anastasia picks it up and hands it to her mom.

"Thank you sweetie," Tracy says.

"Why didn't you want to put the disc in storage," Anastasia asks.

"Because it's too dangerous to use in battle, the first time I used this battle I hurt your dad." Tracy answers sadly.

"Why did you do that?" Anastasia asks.

"It was an accident, honey. The nighlok we were fighting called your mom weak. She got mad, used her special attack, but the nighlok redirected it back towards her." Antonio says.

"Then what happened," Jade says.

"Antonio pushed her out of the way, and took the hit for her." Jayden says.

"That's why I'd like to keep the disc safe with me." Tracy says.

"We agreed to store all our ranger items," Jayden says.

"I know," Tracy says.

Tracy reluctantly put the disc in the box. Then he closes the box and puts it inside the box with the zord and the morphers. The guardian closes the box and leaves the room.

"Mom, can we go outside and play in the forest?" Mason asks.

"Yeah, can we?" Anastasia adds.

"I guess so, but as long as someone watches you," Tracy says.

"I can have another guardian watch them," Daisuke says.

Tracy nods, and the kids cheer happily. Anthony starts to run out of the room.

"Anthony, you know the rule about running inside," Tracy scolds.

"Sorry, mom" Anthony says.

The rest of the kids leave the room and head outside. Tracy looks over at Luna. The puppy has her ears bent down towards her face and whimpers.

"Okay, girl you can go, too," Tracy says.

Luna's ear instantly stand up straight again and wags her tail happily before chasing after the kids. The rangers chuckle as she leaves the room. The guardian returns with a tray that has a tea kettle on it. He sets it on the table and heads out again to go watch the children.

"Lauren, just curious have you and my brother decided on a date for the wedding yet?" Tracy asks.

"Yes, we have, it's September 19th," Lauren says.

"That's great, so this time I'll get to crack a joke about how long mom lasted before she starts crying her eyes out." Tracy jokes.

"Who is going to be the Maid of Honor?" Emily asks. 

"Tracy," Lauren says.

Tracy starts to drink her tea. She starts choking on it when she hears her name but recovers quickly. "Why me,"

"You are the most organized one in your family. It seemed like the most logical choice." Lauren says.

"True, but I wish he would have talked to me about it first. I did get accepted to Veterinary school after all," Tracy says.

"That's great, but why haven't you told the family," Lauren asks.

"I did, but I guess he forgot to tell you." Tracy says.

"We could find someone else," Lauren says.

"No, I'll do it. You don't bail on family," Tracy says.

"Thanks," Lauren says.

Twenty minutes pass, as the group continues talking about their future plans. The kids come back inside after they took a quick nap. Everyone heads back to the Shiba house for lunch.


	18. Anastasia's First Two Wheeler Ride

Anastasia's first two wheeler ride

Three days passed after the reunion ended, the Garcia Family is in the living room of their apartment. The kids were still in their pajamas. Anastasia is playing Tug of War with Luna with her favorite rope toy. Anthony is playing with his Mega Blocks. He is making a huge tower. Antonio is sitting on the couch. A few seconds later, everyone hears the door open.

"Mom is back," Anthony says.

Luna quickly lets go of the rope toy. Anastasia losses her balance and starts to falls backward. She tries to catch herself, but couldn't. Anthony looks away from his tower and starts to laugh when he sees his big sister lands on her butt.

"Dad, tell Anthony to stop laughing at me, it's not funny." Anastasia whines.

"Anthony, stop laughing at your sister," Antonio says sternly.

Anthony stops laughing. Anastasia gets up and sees Tracy walking in.

"Hi, mom, when do I finally get my own room?" Anastasia asks.

"You have to wait a little long sweetie. All you father and I have to do is conduct the final walk-through of the new house." Tracy answers.

"Why do you have to do that?" Anthony asks.

"We want to make sure we didn't get scammed honey." Tracy answers.

"When are you going to do that?" Anastasia asks.

"Your dad and I will be leaving in an hour," Tracy says.

"What about teaching me how to ride a two wheeler?" Anastasia asks.

"Don't worry, honey, your mom and I will be in plenty of time to do that too." Antonio says.

"Can't we come too," Anthony asks.

"I guess so, but you two need to get dressed please." Tracy says.

"Yeah," The kids cheer.

Anthony cleans up his Mega Blocks. Anastasia cleans up Luna's toys and puts them in the basket near her bed. Luna walks over to the coat rack. She jumps up and takes her leash off one of the hooks. Then she sits down in front of it and waits for her owners. Tracy and Antonio head to the door. Anastasia and Anthony go their room. Anthony comes back wearing a blue polo shirt with a robot spinning a basketball on its finger and the words slam dunk written on it along with the matching blue plaid shirt and a pair of shoes with Velcro straps. Anastasia comes back wearing a faded pink T-shirt with a sequined red heart on it, a pair of neon pink pants, and her second favorite pair of shoes. They have peace signs on them and sequins on the toes. She also put on her Dora The Explorer Helmet and pads.

Tracy and Antonio chuckle at their daughter's eagerness. "Honey, you can bring your safety gear, but please take it off. I want it to be kept in the car." Anastasia lets out a sad sigh as she takes off her gear. They head out to the car. Three hours later Antonio pulls into the driveway of the house on Little Path. The kids' eyes light up seeing the arched entry way and the other Spanish style Architecture for the first time.

"It's really pretty mom," Antastasia says.

"It sure is, sweetie," Tracy agrees.

They get out of the car. Tracy is worried that she didn't see Tina Ortiz, the Real Estate agent. The Griffin Family next door walks out of their house and sees the Garcia Family standing around looking confused.

"I think we should introduce ourselves." Raschelle says.

"Yeah, they even have a puppy for Banter to play with." Hannah says.

They walk over to them. The Garcia Family turns around to see them walking up, Luna wags her tail happily seeing Banter holding a rope toy in his mouth.

"Hello, I'm Rachelle; I'd like you to meet my husband Carson. Our daughter Hannah, Son Guillermo and our puppy Banter."

"It's nice to meet all of you. I'm Tracy Garcia. This is my husband Antonio. Our daughter Anastasia and son Anthony, it seems like our puppy, Luna has made friends with Banter." Tracy says.

"Banter is a very friendly puppy; I see you're interested in the Rodriguez's old house." Carson says.

"Yes, we're waiting for the real estate agent to show up so we can take our last walking tour of the house." Tracy says.

"Does that mean you've gotten the keys?" Carson asks.

"Not yet, but that's what we're hoping for. The kids are tired of sharing a room in our old apartment." Tracy says.

Anthony pulls on his mom's shirt. "Mom, I have to go, really bad."

"Okay, sweetie, can he use the bathroom in your house, Raschelle?" Tracy asks.

"Or course," Raschelle answers.

Tracy nods to her son. He takes hold of Rachelle hand. He, Tracy and Raschelle walk inside the Griffin's house.

"You and your daughter and Luna are welcome to play in the backyard till Tina shows up." Carson offers.

"Thank you," Antonio says.

Carson leads them to the backyard. The puppies stayed in the front yard of the other house. They stared at each other growling playfully.

"Luna, Aquí," Antonio says.

Luna stops growling and walks over to her owner. Carson and the kids are surprised that Luna understands Spanish.

"You trained Luna in Spanish," Carson says.

"Yes, we had Luna before the kids were born. Tracy thought that we should train Luna in Spanish that way she wouldn't get confused when we were calling the kids." Antonio explains.

"So, the kids know how to call her and other commands in Spanish as well." Carson asks.

"Yes," Antonio says.

"Can we show them dad," Anastasia asks.

"Yes, Mr. Garcia, can she?" Hannah asks.

"Of course," Antonio answers.

The girls cheer loudly. They head back to the backyard. Meanwhile, at the realtor's office, Tina is searching for the keys to the Garcia's new house that her new intern, Raphael Andrew, misplaced in her office.

"Raphael, where did you put the keys to that house on Little Path?" Tina asks.

"I remember putting them in the top drawer of your desk, Mrs. Ortiz." Raphael says.

"Well, they weren't there, and you better help me find them. I'm already late to meet Mr. and Mrs. Garcia." Tina snaps.

Raphael doesn't say another word. He gets to work helping his mentor find the keys. After searching for three minutes, Raphael finds the keys on the floor next to the potted planted in the corner of the room near the window. Tina shakes her head and snatches the keys from his hand. She tells Raphael to put everything in the room back where it was when he came in yesterday. He nods and gets to work. Tina leaves and goes to meet up with Tracy and Antonio.

Back at the Griffin's house, the Griffins along with Tracy and Antonio watch their kids and the puppies playing together. A few minutes later, Tracy hears cell phone ring. She takes it out of her jacket pocket and answers it. Tina tells her that she is on her way.

"Great," Tracy says.

"One more thing, I have the keys to your new house. All you need to do is sign the lease and you'll have your very first house congratulations." Tina says.

"Thank you I'll tell the family," Tracy says.

Tracy hangs up her phone and puts it back in her pocket.

"Who was on the phone," Antonio asks.

"Tina, she said that all we have to do is sign the lease and we'll get the keys to the house," Tracy answers.

"When do we tell the kids," Antonio asks.

Anastasia and Hannah run up.

"Do we get to move into our new house soon, mom?" Anastasia asks.

"Yes, sweetie, Mrs. Tina called me and said that she in on the way with the keys to the house."

The girls cheer loudly.

"Yeah, we get to be neighbors." Hannah says.

"Yeah, and I get my own room too." Anastasia says.

Meanwhile, Tina pulls up to the house. She parks her car next the Garcia's. The sound of Anthony and Guillermo along with the puppies playing next door makes her smile. She heads over towards the sound. She goes to the front door and rings the doorbell. The group hears it from the back patio.

"That must be Tina now," Tracy says.

"Aw, can we stay and play some more." Anastasia says.

"I guess so," Tracy says.

"We'll keep an eye on them," Raschelle says.

"Thank you," Tracy says.

"Don't worry mom, we'll be good. I promise," Anastasia says.

Tracy chuckles before she and Antonio leave to meet up with Tina. Fifteen minutes later they finished the last tour of the house. They walk into the kitchen over to the little island where the sink is. Tina sets the clipboard down with the lease form on it. Tracy and Antonio as professionally as they could pick up the pen and sign their names on the correct line.

"Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Garcia you now own this house. Here are the keys." Tina says.

They say goodbye and Tina picks up the clipboard. She leaves Tracy and Antonio alone so they can process everything that just happened. A few minutes later, they recovered their nerves and went back over to the Griffin's house to pick up Luna and the kids. The kids say goodbye to their new friends. Then the group gets back into the car and drive back to the apartment to get Anastasia's bike. Then they head to Silver Hills.

Twenty minutes later, Antonio parks the car in the parking lot in front of a large building. Everyone gets out.

"Aren't we going to the park mom?" Anastasia asks.

"Yes, sweetie, but your dad just got a little lost." Tracy answers.

"I'll go inside and ask for directions." Antonio says.

Inside, Wes Collins and Eric Myers are walking down the hallway leading to the exit. A few seconds later, Antonio walks up to them.

"Excuse me, I'm Antonio Garcia, do you know how to get to the park?"

"It's nice to meet you Antonio, I'm Wes Collins," Wes says.

"Eric Myers," Eric says.

"The park is two blocks away, just drive down to the third stop light. Then turn left and the park will be on the right hand side." Wes says.

"Thank you, it's nice to meet you, too. My daughter is very eager to learn how to ride a two wheeler," Antonio says.

"You're welcome; do you think that we could meet your family?" Wes asks.

Antonio nods, and the three men head out to the parking lot.

"It's very nice to meet you." Tracy says.

She looks down at Luna to see the puppy's ear perk up and unclips her collar from the leash. A few seconds later, Luna starts to run down the sidewalk as fast as her puppy legs can go.

"Why did she do that?" Wes asks.

"The last time she ran off like that she rescue some abandoned kittens from a river in the woods." Antonio says.

"We should go after her, right dad?"Anastasia asks.

"Yes, Ana, but you and your brother will stay here. Your mom and I don't want to search the city for you after we find Luna." Antonio answers.

"I'll stay here and watch the kids," Wes offers.

"Thank you Wes," Tracy says.

Eric, Tracy and Antonio run down the sidewalk and try to catch up with Luna. The puppy stops at an intersection and sits down. When she hears the crosswalk signal buzz she runs across the street. The group was a few feet behind her, and sees Luna running across the street.

"I never saw a dog do that," Eric says.

"I guess we've trained her well," Antonio says.

They run faster and finally catch up with her in front coral blue two story house. Antonio notices that there weren't any cars in the driveway. Tracy tries to clip the leash to Luna's collar, but the puppy runs into the backyard of the house. They follow her and see a three-year-old boy in the pool. He is screaming and trying to stay above the water. Luna leaps in and swims over to him.

"I'll call 911," Eric says.

"The puppy will bring you over to the edge buddy. Just grab a hold of her collar," Antonio calls.

The boy wraps his little fingers around Luna's collar. Tracy walks over to the steps, and starts to call Luna. The puppy turns around and starts to swim over to her. When Luna is close enough Tracy picks the boy up. She hears the siren of the approaching ambulance. The paramedics run up to her and Tracy hands him to the paramedics. Luna goes over to the after shaking all the pool water as she could. The other paramedic hands Tracy a towel and she dries Luna off the rest of the way.

"Is he going to be alright?" Tracy asks.

The paramedics give him a quick exam.

"I think so, that puppy of yours is pretty amazing." One Paramedic says.

"I'll say," added another paramedic.

The boy's father darts over to them, and growls "What's going on here? Why is that flea bag in my yard? You all are trespassing as well,"

"I'm sorry, sir, but your son nearly drowned in your pool." The paramedic says.

"Luna isn't a flea bag. She prevented you from coming home and finding your son at the bottom of the pool," Antonio snaps.

"That may be so, but I don't like dogs in my yard," the father says.

"I have a better question, didn't you hire a babysitter to look after your child?" Eric asks.

The babysitter runs out with wet hair. "How did Matt get out here?"

"Wait, why is your hair wet?" The father asks.

"I was going to give him a bath?" the babysitter answers.

"I don't think so, it looks like you decided to take a shower instead of doing your job." Tracy snaps.

The babysitter doesn't say another word. The father tells her to gather her things and leave. The father gets in the back of the ambulance and rides to the hospital. The group heads back to meet up with Wes and the kids. Anastasia and Anthony run up and start to pet Luna when they see their parents and Eric walking up to the building.

"Did Luna save another animal mom," Anastasia asks.

"Not this time honey, she saved a boy from drowning," Tracy answers.

"That is one amazing puppy," Wes says.

"One of the paramedics said that exact same thing," Tracy says.

"Thank you for watch the kids and for the directions. We'll be on our way now," Antonio adds.

The group says goodbye. The Garcia family gets back in the car and head to the park. Antonio parks the car again, and Anastasia quickly gets out of her car seat. She puts on her safety gear after she is outside of the car.

"Hurry up dad, I want to ride a two wheeler before the park closes," Anastasia says.

"Anastasia, your dad hasn't even taken your bike out of the car yet." Tracy says.

"Plus, I still have to take off the training wheels," Antonio adds.

"Why don't you go over to the playground, and we'll call you back over when your bike is training wheel free," Tracy suggests.

"Okay," Anastasia sighs.

Anastasia sadly walks over to the playground with Anthony. They play for ten minutes till Anastasia hears her parents calling her. She went down the side one last time. When she reaches the bottom, she runs over to her parents.

"Can I ride it now," Anastasia asks.

Tracy and Antonio nods. They walk over to a patch of grass. Anastasia sits down on her bike.

"Close your eyes honey. Daddy is going to hold onto the bike while you try to find the pedals." Antonio says.

Anastasia nods. Antonio grabs hold of the saddle. Anastasia closes her eyes. She brings her knees high up above her waist. A few seconds later she finds the pedals and confidently puts her feet down.

"Good job, sweetie, you can open your eyes now," Antonio says proudly.

Anastasia opens her eyes and asks, "Now what daddy?"

"Put one foot on the ground and try to push off with the other." Antonio answers.

She starts to move slowly. Antonio helps her keep her balance. A few feet later, Anastasia says, "You can let now daddy,"

Antonio lets go. Tracy turns on the camera and starts filming. She smiles recording her daughter riding in a straight line across the grass. Antonio walks over to her.

"That's it honey, keep going, you're doing great." They cheer.

They are even more impressed when she makes a perfect turn and rides back towards them.

"Good job honey," They cheer again.

Tracy hands the camera to Antonio.

"Honey, do you remember how to stop?" Tracy asks.

"Yes," Anastasia answers.

Anastasia stops five feet in front of her, gets off her bike and runs over to her mom. Tracy sees a huge smile on her face, picks her up and give her a big hug.

"I'm a big girl, right mom?"Anastasia asks.

"Yes, honey, I'm so proud of you." Tracy answers.

Antonio stops recording and turns off the camera. They stay at the park for two more hours till they head back to the apartment. Tracy and Antonio were so happy that they recorded this milestone in their daughter's life. They were excited to send it to the rest of the family.

Translations

Aquí - Come


	19. Moving Day

Chapter 19: Moving Day

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**AN: There are only two chapters left till it's finished. **

* * *

Seven weeks later, the Garcia Family is outside the apartment. Tracy places the last box into the trunk of the car. She closes it and gets into the passenger seat. The kids waved goodbye to their old home as Antonio starts to drive away. Zechariah and Jayden follow behind him in the 10ft Moving Truck Tracy rented from U-Haul. Tracy also bought some new future and hired some workers from, Mr. Mover Man moving company, James and Oliver, to bring it to their new house. An hour and a half later, Luna starts to whine like she has to go. Tracy picks up the walkie talkie out of the cup holder. "We're getting off at the next rest stop, for a puppy potty break,"

"Got it," Jayden says.

Tracy puts the walkie talkie back in the cup holder. A few miles up the road Tracy sees a sign that says 'Rest Area 500 yards ahead on the left'. As they approach the exit Antonio uses his turn signal to let Zechariah and Jayden know where they need to exit. After Antonio parks the car Tracy picks up the leash from the space in between their seats, after unbuckling her seatbelt, she gets out of the car. She opens the rear passenger side door. She hands the leash to Anastasia.

The four year old clips the leash to Luna's collar before she unclips the seat beat tether from the safety harness. Luna quickly hops down and exits the car. She drags Tracy over to the nearest patch of grass. She didn't bother to sniff around to find a good spot. The puppy relieves herself right where she was and calmly walks back over to Tracy.

They go back to the car. Luna hops back into the car and onto her seat. Tracy hands the leash to Anastasia. She clips the seat belt tether back onto Luna's harness. Then she unclips the leash, get out and closes the door. She gets into her seat again and Antonio starts the car again, then they get back on the highway.

They drive for another hour before everyone starts to get hungry. Everyone agreed to eat at a place with outside seating so Luna wouldn't have to stay in the car while they ate. Antonio and Zechariah pulled into the parking lot of The Golden Devine. Everyone gets out the car to stretch their legs.

"I'm going to ask if they allow pets to sit in the patio." Antonio says.

"I'll go too," Zechariah says.

"Can I go too, dad? I have to go to the bathroom." Anastasia says.

Antonio nods. They walk into the restaurant. The hostess greets them and says,"May I help you?"

"Yes, do you allow dogs on the patio?" Antonio says.

"May I use your bathroom?" Anastasia interrupts, as she does her potty dance.

"Of course sweetie, it's in the back and the ladies room is the second door on the right." The hostess says.

"Thank you," Zechariah says.

He picks her up and quickly makes his way to the bathroom.

"To answers your question, sir, we do allow dogs. We even give them a complimentary bowl of water and we have a menu just for them." The hostess says.

"That's great, thank you." Antonio says.

He goes back outside to get the others. Zechariah and Anastasia make their way back to the group just as they are getting showed to their table. The hostess, Mary, leads the group to the back patio. They sit down at one of the long tables.

"Mom, I can't reach the silverware," Anastasia says.

"Yeah, me too," Anthony says.

"I'll bring you some booster seats in a bit. Can I start you off with something to drink?" Mary says.

"I'll have milk, please," Anastasia says.

"Me too, please," Anthony says.

"I'll have a Pepsi," Tracy says.

"I'll have an unsweetened ice tea," Zechariah says.

"Make that two," Antonio says.

"I'll have a green tea," Jayden says.

"What about Luna?" Anastasia asks.

'Don't worry sweetie, the server will bring her a bowl of water along with all of your drinks." The hostess answers.

Mary leaves to put the drink order in. She comes back with the booster seats for Anthony and Anastasia. The kids push their out and hop down. They stand in front of them and let Mary place the booster seats down.

"Thank you," the kids says together.

"You're welcome," Mary says.

Mary leaves with a smile on her face. She was so happy to see kids that have such good manners. A few seconds later, the server, Nickolas, comes back with a tray filled with their drinks. After passing them out, he bends down in front of Luna and sets the bowl of water in front of her. Luna happily laps up the water. He stands up and takes out a notepad.

"Have you decided yet, or do you need more time to look over the menu?" Nickolas asks.

"Yes, we have Nickolas," Tracy says.

"Alright, who is going to order first?" Nickolas asks.

"I'll have the tilapia," Antonio says.

"I'll have the house salad," Zechariah says.

"I'll have the grilled chicken sandwich," Tracy says.

"I'll have the mini cheeseburger with sweet potato fries, please," Anthony says.

"I'll have the grilled chicken nuggets and a side of brown rice, please," Anastasia says.

"Will Luna get something to eat, too?" Anthony asks.

"Yes, she will buddy. All our four legged guests get a bowl of rice with steamed salmon and a baked sweet potato." Nickolas answers.

"I'm sure that Luna will love that, thank you." Tracy says.

"You're welcome and I'll go put your order in right now," Nickolas says.

Ten minutes later, Nickolas returns with the food. Once everyone is severed, he leaves to let them eat. Twenty minutes later, he returns with the check. He asks, "How was everything?"

"Everything was delicious," Tracy says.

"Yes, you have a really great chief," Anastasia says.

"Thank you little girl, I'll make sure to pass the compliment along to the chief," Nickolas says.

Then everyone gets up and leaves the table. Tracy lets Anastasia walk Luna back to the car. Another hour passed and they finally pulled into the driveway of their new house. Everyone gets out of the car. Tracy takes the house keys out of her pocket. She walks up to the front door and unlocks it. She opens it all the way and presses it up against the wall so it would stay rested against the door stop on the wall. She walks back to the group.

"First, let's get all the furniture moved in." Tracy says.

"Yes, Ma'am," James and Oliver says together.

When the men got the future for the kids' rooms, Tracy and Antonio let the kids show them men to their rooms that way they could have a say in where it went. After James and Oliver places Anastasia dresser in her room they went back out to the truck.

"That's the last one," James says.

"We'll be driving back to base now. Congratulations on your new home." Oliver says.

"Thank you, for all your hard work. Drive safe," Tracy says.

The men nod. The kids wave goodbye to them as they drive away. After the vehicle fades from sight, they get to work unpacking the rest of the boxes from the car and the U-Hal truck. They worked for a few hours before they decided to take a break. The kids went into their new rooms and fell asleep in their new beds for their naps instantly. After they said goodbye to Zechariah and Jayden as well as thanking them for all their help, Tracy and Antonio relaxed on their new couch in the living room. Luna walks in, jumps onto it, lays down next to Tracy, and she lays her head down in Tracy's lap. Tracy starts petting her behind the ears.

"It may take a while to get used to living in a house. I'm glad the kids are happy to be here." Tracy says.

"Did you remember to sign Anastasia up for preschool," Antonio says.

"Yes, honey, I called the school, and the principal said that even though was last minute. They were able to place her in Mrs. Coleman's class. Since another student's parents decided to wait a year before enrolling their child." Tracy says.

"We lucked out, so I guess the next thing we have to do is take Anastasia shopping so she can pick out her backpack and a few outfits to wear to school." Antonio says.

"Yes, we'll do that a week after we've gotten settled in." Tracy says. 


	20. First Military Funeral Cermony

Chapter 20: First Military Funeral Ceremony

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**AN: I did a lot of research for this chapter to make sure that the ceremony was accurate to a real funeral. Anyway one more chapter to go. **

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Three weeks later, the Garcia Family is slowly starting to get used to their new home. Tracy and the kids walk into the house walk inside from their trip to the mall for Anastasia's first day of school items and Anthony even picked out an outfit to wear on his first day of day care. The kids walk to their rooms to put everything away. Tracy walks to the kitchen. As soon as she enters the phone on the wall starts to ring. She walks over to answer it and sees her Aunt Eva's number on the caller ID. She quickly picks the phone up and places it against her ear.

"Hello, Aunt Eva, what's up?"

"I have some bad news honey. Yesterday the CNO (casualty notification officer) came to the house." Eva answers. Tracy can hear her sobbing on the other end as she continues. "He told me that Zechariah's Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb. Two of the other soldiers riding with him are expected to survive, but Zechariah was pronounced dead on the scene."

Tracy tries her best to hold onto the phone. Her hand is shaking violently as tears start to roll down her cheeks. She hears her Aunt blow her nose before she talks again.

"I'll call you once we decide the date of the funeral service," Eva says.

"Okay," Tracy says tearfully.

Tracy's right hand is still shaking as she hangs up. She leans up against the wall, and slowly slides down onto the floor. She pulls her Knees to her chest as she continues to cry over the lost of her cousin.

= Samurai Family Life =

A few seconds later, Luna and Antonio come home from the dog park. They walk to the kitchen after Antonio unclipped the leash from her collar. The kids walk down stairs and go over to their dad.

"Hi, dad, did Luna have fun at the dog park?" Anastasia asks.

"Yes, she did," Antonio says.

Then everyone goes to the kitchen. They see Tracy slowly getting to her feet and drying her tears and blowing her nose.

"Mom, why were you crying?" Anthony asks.

"Aunt Eva called," Tracy says.

"Why didn't you let us talk to her?" Anastasia asks.

"She told me that some bad people had placed a roadside bomb near a place where Zechariah and a few of his Army friends where they were riding in the Humvee," Tracy answers.

"What happened is Army Man going to be okay?" Anthony asks.

"I'm sorry buddy, but the bomb went off. Zechariah's Army friends are going to be okay. Zechariah's body stopped working and when some other Army people came to help them they couldn't get it to start working again." Tracy explains.

Tracy waits for the kids to process what she just told them.

"Did Zechariah die because he did something wrong?" Anastasia says wobbly.

A few seconds Anastasia starts crying. Tracy picks her up and gives her a hug. Anastasia buries her face in her mom's chest as the tears stream down her cheeks.

"No, Ana, he didn't do anything wrong. He joined the Army, so he could fight for your freedom and mine." Tracy says.

Anthony starts to cry when he sees his sister crying. Antonio picks him up and begins to rub circles on his back to help him calm down. Ten minutes later the kids had stopped crying, the kids are sitting in their chairs at the table. Tracy makes them a snack. Antonio gets them a juice box out of the fridge. Tracy sets the plate of Ants on a log down on the table were both could reach it. After they finished eating they threw their empty juice boxes in the trash.

"Mom, can we build something in the backyard where we can go to when any of us start to miss Zechariah?" Anastasia asks.

"Sure sweetie, that's a great idea." Tracy says.

They walk out to the backyard. Anastasia goes over to where the hedges are across from the pool. She picks up one of the broken branches and sticks it in the grass in front of it. Then she walks back over to her parents.

"That spot is perfect," Anastasia says.

"Yes, it is," Antonio says.

"How about we go back inside, and we'll write down one sentence saying how much we love Zechariah. Then we can go to garden store and we each can pick out a stone to use for the memorial." Tracy says.

The kids nod. Then everyone goes back inside. Tracy gets some paper and pencils. They sit down at the table and get to work. A few minutes later, everyone finished writing their sentences. Anastasia's says 'You're the best cousin in the world.' Tracy's says, "Thank you for all your pep talks.' Anthony's says, 'Thank you, Army Man, for fighting for me, Anastasia, and Mommy and Daddy.' Antonio says 'I'll treasure all the memories you've made for me and my family.' Tracy also wrote what she wanted the plaque on the cross to say. It will say 'In memory of an amazing cousin and solider Zechariah Ray 1980 – 2015'.

Tracy gathers up the paper, while the kids helped clean up the table. "I'll head to the garden store, why don't you take the kids next door to play with Hannah, Guillermo, and Banter?"

The kids nod and they leave the room. Luna and Antonio follow them next door.

= Samurai Family Life =

The Griffin kids and Banter were playing in the front yard as they walk up. The kids and Luna go over to the Banter and Griffin kids. Antonio walks up to the front porch. He sees that Carson is sitting on the steps watching the kids play. Carson moves over so he could sit down next to him.

"Hello, Antonio, how are you doing today?" Carson asks.

"Okay, I guess, we just found out that Tracy's cousin Zechariah died." Antonio says.

"I'm sorry for your loss. He was in the Army, right?"

"Yes, his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb." Antonio says.

"How are the kids taking it?"

"Okay, I think, they did cry for a bit. I don't think it has set in yet." Antonio says.

"Where is Tracy off to?"

"The garden store, we are going to build a memorial to Zechariah in the backyard in front of the hedges across from the pool."

"Has a date for the funeral been set yet?"

"Not yet,"

"When you have the date, we'd be happy to watch Luna while you are gone."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

= Samurai Family Life =

Twenty minutes later, Tracy pulls into the driveway. Antonio calls for his kids and Luna to tell them that they'll be heading back home. The kids say goodbye and everyone heads back help Tracy unload the car. Tracy opens the trunk. She turns around to see her family walk up. The kids pick up their heart shape stones (which are 2'' big) and carry them to the backyard. Tracy and Antonio work together to get the stone cross out of the trunk. Tracy ends up facing backwards so Antonio tells her when to turn as they make their way to the backyard.

In the backyard, Anthony and Anastasia stay over by the swing set so they wouldn't be in their parent's way as they walk over to the spot Anastasia mark. Antonio continues to guide Tracy towards where they are going to set the cross down. They stop three steps away from the spot.

"Anastasia, honey, could you take the stick away, please." Tracy says.

"Yes, mom," Anastasia says.

She sets her stone down on one of the swings before she walks over to her mom. She takes the stick out of the ground and goes back over to her little brother. Tracy walks back the rest of the way. Then they gently and carefully set the cross down.

"Can we put our stones around it?" Anastasia asks.

"Sure, but let your dad and I get ours out of the trunk." Tracy answers.

They go back to the car and get their stones. They go back to meet up with the kids. Everyone walks up to the cross. Tracy places her stone down in front of it. Anastasia puts her next to her mom's. Antonio puts his down on the side of the cross that faced the house. Anthony puts his on the opposite side of where his dad put his. Then everyone went inside to have dinner it was leftovers night.

= Samurai Family Life =

Three days later, Tracy and the family except for Luna flew out to Tennessee for Zechariah's funeral. Tracy had explained Zechariah was dead to the kids several times till they finally understood what death was. They spent the night at Aunt Eva's house. Everyone wakes up early and has a good breakfast. Then they do the chores before they changed for the funeral. Then everyone gets into their cars and drives off to the cemetery. They walk over to the site and sit down in the area designated for the family to wait for it to start. Eva sat in the front row since she would be getting the folded up American Flag off of Zechariah's casket.

The chaplain is standing next to the curb. When the car carrying Zechariah's casket drive up, he asks everyone to stand as another Solider starts to play the processional song on the Bagpipes. Everyone turns to their left so they could see the casket being carried in. Anthony salutes just like he sees the other soldiers doing, while everyone else puts their hands over their hearts. They watch six soldiers carry the casket over to where it will rest for the remainder of the service. After it is set down, each soldier takes a corner of the flag. They bow their heads and stand in silence for a few seconds before carefully lifting it off the casket and let it hover over it till the song ends.

They keep holding the flag above it until it is time to fold it up. Then everyone turns to face the firing party.

"About face," The leader shouts.

The firing squad turns to face the leader. "Present Arms," is the next command heard. The men ready their weapons and everyone hears the clicking sound as the ammo is loaded into the barrel of each gun. The next command heard was "Fire," before they fire them into the sky at angle that no one would be hurt by the falling bullets when they descend towards the ground. This is repeated three times. Then the bugle player starts to play 'TAPS'. After the song ends, the men start to fold the flag.

When they finished, it's in the shape of a triangle. Then it's passed down to the last solider in the line. He raises it into the sky before handing it to the soldier who is going to present it to Eva. They salute each other before he walks over to Eva. He faces her and holds the flag waist high with the straight edge facing her. Then he kneels down on one knee and solemnly hands it to her and says these words.

"This flag is presented on behalf of a grateful nation and the United States Army as a token of appreciation for Zechariah's honorable and faithful service."

"Thank you," Eva says.

He salutes to her before walking back over to his designated spot. Then the six men march away from the casket. Another solider goes over to a table where his dog tags are. He picks them up and goes over to Eva to give them to her. The solider with the bagpipes starts playing again. He walks over to the casket and kneels down in front of it. Then he goes back to his spot. After he is finished the chaplain tells everyone that they may leave.

Tracy was so proud of her kids. They were so well behave and respected all the rules for the funeral. As they were walking back to the car as a soft breeze blows through the trees. Tracy can almost hear her cousin's voice whisper "Don't worry Cuz. Everything is going to be alright."


	21. First Day of Vet School

Normal POV

Three months later at their home on North Harding Ave, Anastasia is in the living room playing with one of her princess dolls. While Anthony is playing tug of war with Luna using one of her tug toys. Antonio is watching her while Tracy is making dinner.

"Dad, can I go outside to play in the back yard after dinner?" Anastasia asks.

"Sure," Antonio says.

Anthony stops playing with Luna and walks over to him and makes the motions with his hands asking his dad to pick him up. Antonio smiles and picks her up.

"Why do you call mommy, my little angel fish?" Anthony asks.

"That's the nickname I gave mommy when we were dating." He answers.

"When do I get a fish nickname daddy?" he asks.

"Right now, buddy, well you're energetic and playful. You can be my little dolphin." He says.

"My golden knight, dolphins are mammals." Tracy says as she walks in the room.

"I know that, honey, but a dolphin is the perfect match for his personality." Antonio says.

Anastasia walks over her. She picks her up.

"What about me, can I have a fish nickname too, please?" Anastasia asks.

Tracy smiles and kisses him on the cheek. Anastasia asks what's for dinner. Tracy tells her that they are having smoked salmon, baked potatoes, and green beans. Anastasia is very happy because that is her favorite dinner.

After dinner Antonio tells his wife that he would do the dishes. Tracy kissed him on the cheek. Tracy and the kids go outside to play in the back yard. They play outside for an hour and twenty minutes. Tracy tells them that it's time to go back inside and get ready for bed.

"Mommy, can't I stay outside for five more minutes?" Anastasia asks.

"No, sweetie, you have to go to bed, tomorrow is your first day of preschool, remember." Tracy answers.

Anastasia makes her famous puppy dog look. Tracy doesn't give in this time and tell her to go back inside. Then Antonio walks outside.

"Dad, mom, is being mean." Anastasia says with a frown on her face.

Antonio chuckles and walks over to her.

"You know mommy loves you, right?" Antonio asks.

Yes," Anastasia answers.

Antonio picks her up and carries her inside and gets her ready for bed. Tracy picks up Anthony after she whistles to Luna telling her to come inside too. Antonio walks into her room. He puts down on her bed that as Dora the Explorer bedding. Anastasia's pajamas are pink and have gold butterflies on them. A few minutes later Tracy and Luna walk in the room after she put Anthony to bed. Luna goes over to the bed. She jumps into it and circles a few times before she curls up into a ball ready to fall asleep.

"Can you read me a bedtime story daddy?" Anastasia asks.

"Sure, my little dolphin, which story would you like to hear?" Antonio answers.

"Goodnight Moon," Anastasia answers.

Antonio goes over to the bookshelf and picks out Goodnight moon. He walks back over to Anastasia, sits down on the edge of the bed, opens the front cover and starts to read.

"In this great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of a cow jumping over the moon. And there were three bears sitting on chairs. Two little kittens and a pair of mittens. And a little toy house and a young mouse and a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush." Antonio reads.

When he finishes reading the last page and closes the book. He looks down and sees his daughter fast asleep. He sets to book on the end table. He kisses her good night and walks to the door, turns off the light and closes the door quietly. He walks towards their room.

The next morning Tracy and Antonio wake up and get dressed. Tracy walks over to her husband. She kisses him on the cheek.

"My first classes isn't until 11, so I'll be able to be there when we drop off the kids." Tracy asks.

Antonio kisses her on the cheek too, and they leave the room. After breakfast Tracy and Antonio spent the next ten minutes getting their kids ready to head to Little Acorns Montessori Academy. Anastasia is wearing a pink long sleeve shirt with a pick flower on it near the right shoulder, the matching pink ruffled shirt, and a pair of oink boots with ribbons on them. She is holding her pink and green butterfly backpack in her left hand, which is filled with all her supplies. She has the matching lunch box in her other hand. Antonio and Anthony walk in the living room. Tracy smiles seeing her son in his cute outfit (a plaid green T-shirt, ripped jeans and a pair lace up tan shoes) and is holding his bookbag that has a bunch of emergency vehicles on it. She immediately wanted to take a picture of them together. Everyone heads outside after they go to the kitchen to get their lunch boxes. Anastasia picks up her Dora the Explorer lunch box, and Anthony picks up his lunch box it has the same pattern as his bookbag. Antonio locks the door before he walks out. The Griffin Family greets them at the front porch. Hannah is wearing a dress with a squirrel on it with a floral print shirt and puffy cuffs on the end of the sleeves that have the same pattern as the skirt, a blue flower headband and the matching pair of silver flats that have a flower pattern on them. She is carrying her owl bookbag in her left hand and the matching lunch box in her other hand. Guillermo is wearing a T-shirt that has Marshal from the Paw Patrol on it, the matching shorts, and the matching Velcro shoes have Marshal and Chase on them. His bookbag has Rubble, Marshal and Chase on it along with the words Ready for Action written across the bottom. The lunch box has the words All Paws on deck written across the top left hand corner and a picture of Rocky, Marshal and Chase. "I thought you liked to know, I have the day off. I'd be happy to puppy sit for Luna." Carson says. "That would be great, Thank you, the doggy care that we were going to take her to was full." Antonio says. "Mom, can we get going please," Anastasia asks. "In a second, sweetie, I want to take a picture of you and your brother first." Tracy answers. Anastasia and Hannah take turns helping the other out their book bags on. The boys copy their sisters. They walk to the end of the sidewalk. They get in line Luna and Banter sit down in front of them, while Tracy and Raschelle take out their phones. "Say First Day of Preschool," The parents say together. The kids say what their parents told them to say before smiling as they take the photo. "Anthony is going to be in my preschool class this year, isn't he?" Guillermo asks. "We'll have to wait till we get to the school to find out." Tracy says. = Samurai Family Life =

Twenty minutes later, they arrive at Little Acorns Montessori Academy. Antonio gets out of his car. Tracy wanted to wait a year before Anthony started preschool, but the school said that he could start this year since he is potty trained. Everyone walks into the school. The principal and the kids' teachers walk up to them.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Coleman, and I'll be Anastasia and Hannah's teacher." Mrs. Coleman says.

"This is so cool Anastasia we get to be in the same class." Hannah says.

"It sure is," Anastasia agrees.

The girls immediately let go of their mom's hand and walk over to their new teacher. The take a hold of Mrs. Coleman's hand and turn around to face their mom and little brother.

"Bye, mom, have a good day at your first day of vet school," Anastasia says.

"Bye, mom, have a good day at work." Hannah says.

"I love you," The girls say together.

Then they eagerly pull Mrs. Coleman away and down the hall.

_Wow, that was easier that I thought it was going to be. _ Tracy thinks.

"Well, I applaud you Mrs. Garcia and Mrs. Griffin. You have raised some very independent young girls." The principal says.

"Thank you," Rachelle says.

"Hello boys, I'll be your teacher this year. I'm Mr. Steincamp; it's nice to meet you." Mr. Steincamp says.

"Yeah, we are in the same class," The boys cheer.

The boys' slowly let go of their mom's hand. Tracy and Rachelle band down to be at their level.

"Bye mom, this hug is from me and Anastasia," Anthony says.

He and Guillermo, both give their mom a hug. After they backed away Tracy and Rachelle stand up, and watch their boys walk down the hallway to Mr. Steincamp's classroom.

=Samurai Family Life=

Back at the Griffin house, Carson watches the puppies play tug of war with Banter's rope toy. _I hope that everything went okay at preschool. I remember my first day I don't want mom to leave. _He knew how attached Guillermo was with Rachelle. His thoughts were interrupted when the puppy walked up to him tapping their paws on his pant leg. He looks down at them and see them panting really hard.

"Okay, you two, I'll go get some water." Carson says.

=Samurai Family Life=

Meanwhile, at the Veterinary school, Tracy walks into the classroom. Two women walk up to her.

"Hi, I'm Josefa and this is my friend Rosalind. You can like you are welcome to sit next to us if you want." Josefa says.

"No thanks, I'm good." Tracy says.

Tracy politely walks away and sits down in the third chair in from the left in the third row back from the front of the class. A few minutes later, another woman sits down next to her. Tracy looks to her left.

"HI, I'm Tracy Garcia, What's your name?" Tracy asks.

"HI, Tracy I'm Sofia McCrae. It's nice to meet you too." Sofia says.

They talk for a while since they had thirty minutes before class starts. Sofia asks her if she has any kids. Tracy answers yes and takes out her phone and shows her a picture of Anastasia and Anthony she took of them along with Luna and the neighbor's kids and their puppy.

"Oh your kids are adorable and the puppy is really cute too." Sofia says

"Thank you." Tracy says.

"I guess that other puppy and kids live next door," Sofia says.

"Yes, we thought that we could share the photo since all our kids were starting preschool today," Tracy says.

=Samurai Family Life=

Antonio parks his car in the Fish Dish parking lot where the other employees parked their cars. He walks inside through the employee entrance. His boss, Alexander Brush, walks up to him.

"Hello, Mr. Garcia, I'm glad to see that you showed up ten minutes before your shift. I appreciate punctual employees." Alexander says.

"You're welcome, sir, where would you like me to start?" Antonio says.

"You'll be working in the kitchen assisting Chef, Fisher," Alexander says.

Alexander shakes Antonio's hand before heading the check the dining room to make sure it's ready for the lunch rush. Antonio heads to the crew room to put his things away in his locker. He is excited to start his first day of work.

=Samurai Family Life=

Back at the Vet School, the professor walks in. He goes to the front of the room and sets his briefcase down on the desk.

"Hello class my name is Dr. Clayton Pennington and welcome to the first day of Veterinary school." Dr. Clayton says.

After he passes out the course schedule, he asks everyone to take turns telling the class about themselves. The first student to stand up is Isidro tells the class that he is single and loves to do anything outdoors.

Tracy stands up and tells the class about how she always wanted to become a vet ever since she was a little girl. She also tells the class about her husband Antonio and the kids Anastasia and Anthony and Luna too.

The next student to stand up after Tracy sits down is Ramon Landry. He says that he loves to take long walks on the beach and to do other romantic thing like that.

After other students, Gail Cain, Hugh Young, Isidro Rice, Jewell Howard, and Sofia McCrae introduced themselves to everyone. Dr. Clayton Pennington stared his lecture. Everyone pays close attention and takes detailed notes. The class ends an hour later and everyone puts their things away. Everyone heads to the lab. Three hours later Tracy couldn't believe how tired she was. She walks out to her car, unlocks it, opens the driver's side door, gets in, puts her book bag down on the passenger's seat, closes the door, puts on her seatbelt, starts the car and drives back to the house.

She gets about five miles down from the entrance ramp to the expressway. The traffic light just turns green and she pulls out into the intersection. A 2014 Cadillac Escalade comes in from the opposite direction because the driver decides to blow the red light. It slams into Tracy's 2012 Dodge Charger. The impact causes the Driver side impact and overhead airbags to go off. The car spins a few times. The only thing on Tracy's mind is her family.

A few minutes later all the emergency vehicles show up. The driver's side door was so badly dented in that the firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to cut through it. After they cut through the door one of the fire fighters sees Tracy and tries to wake her up.

"Ma'am, can you hear me, ma'am?" the fire fighter asks.

Tracy wakes up long enough to tell the fire fighter to tell her family that she is going to be okay. The fire fighter picks her up carefully and puts her on the stretcher. The paramedics take her over to the ambulance. They put her inside and connect all the medical equipment to her.

=Samurai Family Life=

They get to the hospital ten minutes later. The doctor closed the cut on Tracy's forehead with twenty stitches and tends to her other wounds. Afterwards he called her husband. Meanwhile, at the house Antonio walks through the front door and hears the phone ring a few minutes later. He walks into the kitchen and answers the phone.

"Hello, Garcia residence. " Antonio says.

"Mr. Garcia this is Dr. Eusebio Coffey from Huntington Hospital. Your wife was in a car accident an hour ago." Dr. Coffey says.

"Is she all right?" Antonio asks.

"Yes," Dr. Coffey says.

"We'll be there in a bit, thank you," Antonio says.

Antonio hangs up the phone. "Okay, kids we have to go to the hospital. Your mom was in a car accident."

"Is she okay dad," Anastasia asks.

"Yes, honey, she is fine," Antonio says.

Everyone goes back out to the car. Then he drives the kids to the hospital to see Tracy. They walk into the waiting room and they see Dr. Eusebio Coffey and nurse Chandra Mitchell walk up to them.

"Hello Mr. Garcia, I'll show you to your wife's room." Dr. Eusebio Coffey says.

"What about me, daddy," Anastasia asks.

"Yeah, what are we going to do Daddy?" Anthony adds.

"Nurse Chandra will take you two to the cafeteria to get a snack, I'm going see mommy." Antonio answers.

Anastasia and Anthony nods. Nurse Chandra and the kids head to the cafeteria. Dr. Eusebio Coffey shows Antonio to Tracy's room. Antonio walks in and goes over to the bed.

"Hey angel, how are you feeling?" Antonio asks.

"A little light headed," Tracy answers honestly.

Dr. Eusebio Coffey walks over to the bed."I think it's best for you to stay a few hours for observation."

=Samurai Family Life=

A few seconds later, Chandra and kids walk in. They climb onto the bed and give Tracy a big hug.

"I'm so happy that you're okay, mom." Anastasia says.

"Me too," Anthony says.

A few seconds later, they start crying. Tracy starts humming one of their favorite songs to help them calm down. Once they calm down, Antonio and Dr. Eusebio pick them up and set them down in the chairs that are next to the bed. Then the kids start telling their parents all about their first day of school. Tracy and Antonio were happy to hear that they made a bunch of new friends and learned some new Spanish words.

"When you can come home mom. I'm going to show you the drawing I made for you," Anastasia says.

"I drew you a picture too daddy." Anthony says.

"That's great guys, and I can't wait to see them." Tracy says.

"Yes, they'll be hung up on the fridge that way everyone how comes to visit can see what you two made." Antonio says.


	22. Vet School Graduation

Vet School Graduation

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**AN: Thanks to everyone who read this story. Feel free to check out the sequel Like Parent Like Child.**

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Antonio pulls into the parking lot of the Veterinary School. He was so proud the Tracy is graduating today. The school usually hold the ceremony in the gymnasium. It was such a beautiful night; they decided to have it outside this year. Tracy talked with the dean and asked him if she could bring Luna since she considered her a member of the family too. The Dean said it was okay as long as Luna was on a leash. Tracy walks up to them in her black cap and gown. The eight-year-old Anastasia is wearing a knee length dress with three quarter length sleeves with red daisies on it. She also put a red flower in her hair. The seven-year-old Anthony is wearing a Khaki Vest and Shorts along with a bow tie the matching hat and a nice pair of shoes.

They walk to the football field and take their seats in the stands. The kids see the stage along with the rows of following chairs in front of it.

"When do we get to see Mom," Anthony asks.

"Soon buddy," Antonio answers.

Ten minutes later, the ceremony starts everyone stands up as the processional song plays. Anastasia and Anthony call out to their mom as she walks in. She waves back to them. After all the students were in their correct spot.

"Will everyone please remain standing." The Dean says. "While Tracy Garcia sings the National Anthem,"

After Tracy finished singing the Dean tells everyone they can sit down. Tracy walks back to her seat and sits down too. The Dean starts to introduce the people on the platform party of the school. After two speeches from the marshals, Dr. May Shall, and Dr. Matt Brown. The Dean invited the President of the University to the podium and asked the students to stand

"By the authority of the people of California and the California Board of reasons. And upon recommendations from the faculty. I'm pleased to confer upon you the graduating class of 2018 The Degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Congratulations." The President says.

After the applause fades, the hooding ceremony minutes later Tracy was at the front of the line.

"Dr. Tracy Anne Garcia," The president says.

Tracy walks up, and the hood is placed around her neck. She shakes the president's hand then walks up to get her Diploma. After she gets her picture taken with the president, she goes back to her seat. After everyone received their hoods and diplomas, the president says, "It's my pleasure to present to you the newest graduates Veterinarians,"

"Yeah mom, we love you" Anthony and Anastasia shout.

After the applause fades, they recited the Veterinary other. Then Tracy stands up and proudly sings the school's song. They walked out as the school song played, and applause rings loudly. Tracy meets up with her family.

"Mom, can we take a picture together," Anastasia asks.

"Of course," Tracy answers.

The Dean walks up to them, "How about I give you a hand, that way your husband can be in the photo too,"

"Thank you," Tracy says.

Antonio hands the camera to the Dean. Tracy lets Anastasia and Anthony hold her degree since it was in such a big folder. Luna sits down in front of Antonio.

"Smile, everyone," The Dean says.

After the group recovers from the flash, the Dean walks up to them. He gives the camera back to Antonio.

"Good luck in all your future endeavors, Dr. Garcia," The Dean says.

"Thank you," Tracy says.


End file.
